REPORTED ARE TWO SEPARATE STUDIES WHICH RELATE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD TO THE CHILD'S SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS OWN ACTIONS. IN THE FIRST STUDY 23 BOYS AND 18 GIRLS, 7 TO 12.5 YEARS OLD, WERE TESTED ON AN ACHIEVEMENT RESPONSIBILITY SCALE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEY JUDGED THEIR SUCCESS OR FAILURE TO BE CAUSED BY SELF-EFFORT OR BY EXTERNAL FACTORS. THEIR MOTHERS WERE THEN RATED ACCORDING TO THE AMOUNT OF AFFECTION AND PROTECTIVENESS THEY OFFERED TO THE CHILD. VARIABLES RELATED TO THE MOTHER'S MAINTENANCE OF DISCIPLINE WERE ALSO STUDIED. IN A SECOND INVESTIGATION 20 BOYS AND 20 GIRLS IN THE SECOND-, THIRD-, AND FOURTH-GRADES WERE TESTED IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THE TESTING OF STUDENTS IN THE FIRST STUDY. RELEVANT DATA WERE ALSO GATHERED FROM BOTH PARENTS OF EACH CHILD. RESULTS FROM THE TWO STUDIES INDICATE THAT PARENTS WHO MAINTAIN SUPPORTIVE, POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR CHILDREN ARE MOST LIKELY TO FOSTER BELIEFS IN SELF-ACHIEVEMENT THAN ARE PARENTS WHOSE RELATIONSHIPS ARE PUNITIVE, REJECTING, AND CRITICAL. MOREOVER, FATHER-CHILD INTERACTIONS SEEM TO INFLUENCE THE CHILD'S INTERNAL-EXTERNAL CONTROL MORE STRONGLY THAN DO MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS. (DK)