PSY 4190: Child Development

The purpose of this activity is to identify differences in parenting styles; parenting styles differ on the basis of control and warmth/responsiveness. You should observe and record a description of conflicts/interactions that occur between at least 5 different sets of parents and children in public settings, such as parks, shopping malls, and stores. Checkout counters where candy and other items designed to appeal to children are displayed are especially good locations for observing such interactions.

For each parent-child pair you observe, use Chapter 12 of your textbook and Power Point notes to classify parents’ styles of handling the conflict as authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, or uninvolved. Then write a paper 2-3 pages long describing your observations (sex of parent, sex of child, type of conflict, number of other children present, number of other individuals present, time & location of conflict) and providing a rationale for the classifications.

**Be sure to consider the role of context (e.g., time of day, location, number of other people around, etc.) in the parent’s behavior in each instance, as well as child-mitigating factors (age of child, etc.).

Link to textbook: https://achieve.macmillanlearning.com/courses/x56u…