Abstract
Twenty-two female university students representing two levels of teaching experience (no formal teaching experience vs. at least 2 years experience) were compared while interacting with one of two child confederates displaying distractible behavior. In addition to participating in a problem-solving task with a child, each adult completed the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey. Results suggested that experienced teachers tended to take a more “task-oriented” approach providing more instruction and structure and less task irrelevant conversation than did inexperienced teachers. Results of the temperament survey confirmed the hypothesis that adult temperament is an important variable mediating adult-child interaction. Adults’ self-reports of activity level, restraint, ascendance, and sociability correlated significantly with adult behavior such as numbers of irrelevant comments, instruction, attention demands, and positive feedback occurring in the laboratory setting. Implications for child placement practices are discussed.
Published Version
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