Patterns in Mother-Child Internal State Discourse across Four Contexts

Internal state language is a unique indicator of children's social understanding. In the current study, the role of context and type of internal state language was investigated. Mother-child internal state discourse in 32 middle-class Canadian families (child M age = 46.4 months) was examined a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 2010-01, Vol.56 (1), p.1-20
Main Authors: Howe, Nina, Rinaldi, Christina M., Recchia, Holly E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Canada
Child Development
Children
Classroom communication
Coding
Cognition
Context Effect
Conversation
Correlation
Developmental Psychology
Discourse Analysis
Emotion
Emotional states
Families & family life
Family (Sociological Unit)
Foreign Countries
Individual Differences
Interpersonal Relationship
Investigations
Language
Linguistics
Management
Mother and child
Mothers
Parent Child Relationship
Parenting
Preschool Children
Psychological aspects
Reading
Siblings
Social Cognition
Social Environment
Social interaction
Studies
Task Analysis
Teaching Methods
Theories
Treaties
Visual Stimuli
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Summary:Internal state language is a unique indicator of children's social understanding. In the current study, the role of context and type of internal state language was investigated. Mother-child internal state discourse in 32 middle-class Canadian families (child M age = 46.4 months) was examined across four contexts: (1) a reflective picture task, and (2) home interactions characterized by (a) neutral, (b) positive, and (c) negative exchanges. Type of mother and child internal state discourse (cognitions, goals, preferences, emotions) varied across and within the different contexts. The strength of the associations between different types of maternal and child talk also varied across and within contexts, which may illuminate the degree of responsiveness in mother-child discourse. Implications for developing greater family sensitivity to internal states, as well as links with current theory and research, are discussed.
ISSN:0272-930X
1535-0266
1535-0266
DOI:10.1353/mpq.0.0042