Abstract: | The present study extends earlier work on parental teaching style by making the task to be completed less structured, extending parent-child interaction over a 2 week time period, and equalizing the expertise of the parent relative to the child. Additionally, the study examines the effects of parental intrusiveness on a subsequent task. Subjects were 22 Caucasian middle class parent-child dyads. Audiorecordings were taped over a 2-week period while dyads were learning aspects of Logo computer programming. Even in this prolonged nonspecific learning situation, in which parents were encouraged to proceed at the child's pace, parents were overwhelmingly directive. Additionally, children of directive parents performed best on a subsequent generalization task. |