An Experimental Investigation of Parent-Child Attitudes with the PARI Scales

Abstract

This study originated in an endeavor to find a tool for quantitative evaluation of changes in attitudes and behavior of undergraduate students which qualitatively had been evident. The impetus came from seven years of work with students at Duke University. The Psychology Department maintains a nursery group for three- and four-year-olds as a laboratory for child study. It is utilized in a psychology course concerned with Adjustment of the Preschool Child. The course combined lectures and discussions with work in the nursery group. Students had continuous contact with the children while they were trained in techniques of observation. Objectively observed and recorded behavior was discussed, analyzed, and interpreted in two or three weekly meetings. In these meetings there prevailed an atmosphere of warm acceptance of each child, combined with an endeavor for psychological understanding. The students analyzed behavior items, discussed and interpreted their meaning, and tied them up with theoretical concepts. Optimum opportunities for child growth and development were reviewed and promoted. During the term students frequently noted the effectiveness of measures introduced to assist the child with its everyday problems. Development of skill in child management on the part of the students appeared to be one by-product of the course. Beyond that, noticeable changes in attitudes and behavior of the participating students became increasingly evident. In the course of recent years this had been stressed by the nursery group teacher in charge, as well as acknowledged by