A group of 40 parents were brought into the laboratory with two of their children (one preschool-age, one toddler) and given a cognitive task which 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 In general, positive parental behaviors such as interaction, responsiveness, support, and stimulation were withdrawn from the preschool-age children when the parents had a competing activity, while negative behaviors such as interference and criticism/punishment were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. (Author)