ZUSSMAN, JOHN UNGER. Situational Determinants of Parental Behavior: Effects of Competing Cognitive Activity. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 792-800. 20 mothers and 20 fathers were brought into the laboratory with 2 of their children (1 preschool-age, 1 toddler) and given a cognitive task that competed with child care for their attention. This competing cognitive activity had substantial effects on parental behavior compared to a control phase with no competing task. In general, positive parental behaviors such as interaction, responsiveness, support, and stimulation were withdrawn from the preschool-age children when the parents had a competing activity, while negative behaviors such as interference and criticism/punishment were increased toward the toddlers. The parents also actively generated various strategies to deal with the conflict, such as suggesting new activities and delegating child-care responsibility to the older children.
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John Unger Zussman (1980) studied this question.
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