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OBSERVATIONS ON CONTACT STIMULATION PROVIDED YOUNG CHILDREN IN SELECTED AREAS OF GREECE, USA, AND USSR
Author(s) -
Gibson Janice T.,
Wurst Karen K.,
Canito Maureen
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/00207598408247529
Subject(s) - psychology , checklist , observational study , developmental psychology , punishment (psychology) , child behavior checklist , cognitive psychology , medicine , pathology
This study was a cross‐cultural investigation of contact stimulation, a variable known to be important to the developmental status of young children. An observational checklist was employed to examine objectively physical contacts provided young children by their caretakers in three modern western societies. Forty‐nine caretaker‐child pairs were studied for a total of 635 minutes in free‐play situations in selected areas of Greece, the United States and Russia. Contacts designated as caretaking (designed to satisfy needs of children), pacifying (designed to please children), retrieval (designed to remove children physically from undesirable situations or places), and punishment were observed and measured. Results showed that American caretakers provided their charges with significantly fewer contacts than did caretakers in either of the other two societies studied. No differences were found either in physical retrieval or punishment contacts among the three groups. Implications for childrearing in all three societies were discussed.