Mothers' and fathers' scaffolding of their 2‐year‐olds during problem‐solving and literacy interactions

Abstract

Building upon Wood & Middleton's (1975) concept of parental scaffolding, the influence of parent-child interactions on children's competence within several tasks was investigated. Thirty-two 2-year-old children visited our lab twice, once with their mothers and once with their fathers. During each session dyads participated in problem-solving and literacy tasks, followed by independent child performance tasks. Although subtle differences were found between mothers' and fathers' contingent behaviours displayed during the interactions, at a global level, parents were equally effective in their ability to scaffold their children's emerging skills. Specifically, parental scaffolding behaviours were associated with children's success measured both during the interaction and independently (i.e. following the interactions). These results have implications for the interpretation of research comparing mothers and fathers, and lend support to the claim that scaffolding can be an effective instructional strategy.

Guided Participation in a Cooking Activity over Time

“…This also supports the findings of past research that parents provide sensitive scaffolding and guidance to their children in various types of tasks (e.g., Connor and Cross, 1993;Connor et al, 1997;Pratt et al, 1992).…”

Fathers show modifications of infant-directed action similar to that of mothers

“…There is evidence that positive paternal interactions during a child's second and third years contribute significantly to the child's cognitive and linguistic development (Shannon, Tamis-LeMonda, London, & Cabrera, 2002;Tamis-LeMonda, Shannon, Cabrera, & Lamb, 2004). Indeed, sensitive and responsive fathering promotes cognitive and socioemotional development comparable to such high-quality mothering (Conner, Knight, & Cross, 1997;Easterbrooks & Goldberg, 1984;Van Ijzendoorn & DeWolff, 1997). One might expect, therefore, that fathers modify their actions in ways that support infant learning and development.…”

Beyond Rough and Tumble: Low-Income Fathers' Interactions and Children's Cognitive Development at 24 Months

“…One study found qualitative characteristics of father involvement (e.g., behavioral sensitivity) to be associated with toddlers' problem solving . Fathers' scaffolding during teaching interactions predicted problem solving and literacy skills in 2-year-old children (Conner, Knight, & Cross, 1997). A recent study of low-income African American fathers and their 3-year-olds indicated that fathers who were nurturant during play had children with better cognitive and language competencies (Black et al, 1999).…”