This paper presents a rationale for observing black mothers during semi-structured play activities with their toddlers. It appraises the strengths and weaknesses of such situational assessments of mother-infant dyads, arguing that in addition to observational data the collection of introspective interview data from mothers is essential. Interview…

Suggests that dominance can be defined as asymmetry in predictability in social variables of importance, and bidirectionality as symmetrical predictability. Procedures which address the concepts of cyclicity within a person and synchronicity between people and which assess asymmetry and symmetry in social interaction are discussed. (Author/RH)

Explores some of the methodological issues and problems involved in studies of black mother-child interactions, and presents alternatives to previously-used methods of selecting tasks, instructing subjects, and collecting data in the home. (BD)

The purpose of this exploratory study was to measure the impact of a specific style of parent education on parental behavior with their children. Six families, chosen by invitation from among parents participating in the Carbon County, Utah parent education programs, participated in the study. A BAB-ABBA single case experimental design was…

Twenty dyads--ten middle-class mothers and ten lower-class mothers and their two-year-old children--were videotaped in a play situation. Variables in speech and utterance production were examined for change across condition (awareness or ignorance of being observed) and across socioeconomic class within condition. The number of utterances was…