Transactional Influences of Infants' Orienting Ability and Maternal Cooperation on Competition in Three-Year-Old Children

Abstract

The aims of this study were (1) to describe how three-year-olds regulate their effort during competition, (2) to compare their facial expressions after failure and success, and to demonstrate the operation of a display rule in competition, (3) to explore the cross-situational stability of individual patterns in the regulation of behavior, (4) to explore the relationship between factors influencing the mother-child interaction and individual patterns in the regulation of behavior. The Brazelton Neonatal Assessment scale was administered to 44 newborns. At three years, maternal cooperation was assessed from videotapes of mothers and children playing a pattern-matching game. Individual patterns in children's regulation of behavior were assessed by frequency counts of self-evaluations and withdrawal during the game. Competitiveness was assessed during a tower building task. The greatest number of glances at the tester's tower occurred when either of the competitors finished his/her tower first. Building speed was reduced when the tester finished his tower first. In the absence of eye contact with the opponent, success was followed by smiling and failure by a sad face; during eye contact, children mostly smiled. Patterns of building speed during a failure trial and a success trial were related to positive self-evaluations during mother-child play, to orienting scores at newborn age, and to maternal cooperation at the age of three.