American conceptions of infant development from 1955 to 1984: what the experts are telling parents.
The efforts of the child development movement to understand development and the factors influencing it have been the basis of 2 interrelated tasks: the scientific study of children, and the dissemination of this knowledge to parents. Content analysis is used to assess the extent to which psychological theories and research about infants have been communicated to parents from 1955 to 1984 in 2 popular publications, the Infant Care manual and Parents magazine. Results indicated that there is not a singular relation between what experts know and what is communicated to parents. Information reflecting scientific advances about the biological components of infant development (perception, cognition, and temperament) have been most accurately communicated to parents, whereas discussions of the mother-infant relationship, child care, feeding, and fathers appeared to be related to the broader cultural context and demographic changes over the past thirty years. This study reveals an interaction between science and culture in our theories of infant development and child rearing.
Young
K T
KT
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.
D002657:Child Development; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D010465:Perception; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013694:Temperament