DESCRIPTORS

A study was conducted tp investigate the, peer concepts, held by 16 second-grade, 17 fourth-grade, and 17 sixth-grade students. A paired comparisons sociometric procedure waq used to obtain children's desEriptions of their classmates in the areas of reading, mathematics, drawing, and an athletic skill (running). In addition, he procedure measured childEen'S liking for classmates. Independent measures pf each child's actual'skills or characteristics were obtained from reading and mathematics achievement test scores, a measure of running speed, and teachers ' ratings bf drawing ability and popularity. Analyses indicated little differentiation of ability attributes by either the second or fourth graders. Sixth graders viewed drawing ability and mathematics skill as quite separate from other attributes, thus demonstrating partial differentiation of ability attributes. Accuracy of the children's choices relative t