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Parental manipulation of child behavior in home observations

S M Johnson1, G K Lobitz

  • 1University of Oregon.

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
|April 1, 1974
PubMed

Insights

Parents can significantly influence their child's behavior during home observations. This study found increased deviant child behavior and parental commands on days parents were instructed to elicit negative behavior.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Understanding parental influence on child behavior is crucial for developmental psychology.
  • Home observations are a common method for studying child behavior, but susceptible to manipulation.
  • Previous research has not fully explored the extent of parental manipulation in naturalistic settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the degree to which parents can manipulate their children's behavior during home observations.
  • To analyze the impact of parental instructions on child deviancy and parental responses.
  • To assess the implications for child psychopathology research and data collection methodologies.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited twelve families with children aged four to six years.
  • Instructed parents to elicit "bad" or "deviant" child behavior on three observation days and "good" or "nondeviant" behavior on alternate days.
  • Collected data through direct home observations and parental questionnaires.

Main Results:

  • Child deviant behavior rates were significantly higher on "bad" days compared to "good" days.
  • Parental negative responding and commands were also significantly elevated on "bad" days.
  • Parental questionnaires confirmed perceived influence over children's behavior in desired directions.

Conclusions:

  • Parents can actively manipulate their children's behavior in home observation settings.
  • Findings highlight potential biases in naturalistic data collection methods.
  • Implications for understanding child psychopathology and refining research methodologies are discussed.

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