Examined sociocultural influences on mathematics achievement. First generation Chinese American and Caucasian American mother-father-daughter triads were audiotaped as the fifth- and sixth-grade girls solved a spatial puzzle. Chinese American triads were quieter, more respectful, more serious, and more orderly, whereas Caucasian American triads were more sociable, more likely to use humor, more talkative, and more interactionally complex. (AA)