OBSERVER INFLUENCES ON FATHERS AND MOTHERS - AN EXPERIMENTAL MANIPULATION OF THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF PARENT-INFANT CONVERSATION

From studies over the past 20 years four contrasting hypotheses can be made about the nature of parent-infant communication: (1) mothers and fathers display similar skills to their infants and do not exert a di fferential influence on their development; (2) fathers are less sympat hetic to their infants' level of development and therefore inadvertent ly stretch the child's development more than mothers; (3) both parents differentially socialize their sons' and daughters' early communicati ve skills; (4) any apparent differences between parents reflect their expectations about being observed. To examine these hypotheses togethe r, this experiment records the communication of 10 mother-infant and 1 0 father-infant dyads in two conditions: when an observer was present or absent. The analysis revealed two patterns. Firstly, in keeping wit h most research on parent-child communication, mothers and fathers bot h simplified their speech to their infants in similar ways. Secondly, both the structure and function of parental communication showed diffe rences between the two conditions and many of these differences were m oderated by interactions between condition and sex of parent or child. The data thus provide more support for the first and fourth hypothese s cited above. It is suggested that analyses of parent-infant interact ion should move away from simple assumptions about parental 'influence s' upon children's development to consider the subtleties of different parental styles in different settings.