Daphne Blunt Bugental

Measuring parental attributions: Conceptual and methodological issues.

A selective review is offered of current issues and new developments in the measurement of parental attributions for social behavior. Attributions have alternatively been conceptualized as involving (a) memory-dependent knowledge structures (i.e., interpretive styles that are dependent on the parents history) or (b) stimulus-dependent appraisal es (i.e., interpretations that are dependent on information available in the immediate context). Consideration is given to the theoretical underpinnings of different types of attributional measures and the implicit models within attribution research (e.g., attributions as mediators, attributions as moderators). Finally, psychometric issues within different attributional approaches are discussed, including consideration of the factors that optimize or constrain the utility of different measures.

Causal Attributions of Hyperactive Children and Motivational Assumptions of Two Behavior-Change Approaches: Evidence for an Interactionist Position.

BUGENTAL, DAPHNE BLUNT; WHALEN, CAROL K.; and HENKER, BARBARA. Causal Attributions of Hyperactive Children and Motivational Assumptions of Two Behavior-Change Approaches: Evidence for an Interactionist Position. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 874-884. Childrens causal-attribution systems were predicted to act as mediators of the differential effectiveness of 2 behavior-change programs. Hyperactive boys were tutored individually for 2 months in a classroom setting; half were instructed in self-controlling speech, and half were given contingent social reinforcement. Within each treatment group, half of the children were taking methylphenidate (Ritalin), and half were unmedicated. 2 dependent measures were used: (a) qualitative-error scores on the Porteus Mazes and (b) the Conners Abbreviated Teacher Rating Scale. Measures were obtained for each childs attributions of personal causation for academic success and failure. Significant interactions were found between interventions and (a) child attributions and (b) medication status. The self-control intervention produced significantly greater error reduction on the mazes for (a) children with high perceived personal causality and (b) nonmedicated children. The social-reinforcement intervention produced trends toward greater error reduction for (a) children with low perceived personal causality and (b) medicated children. No significant differences were found on teacher ratings. The efficacy of perfecting the match between the childs attributional system and the attributional assumptions implicit in an intervention approach is discussed.

The Paradoxical Misuse of Power by Those Who See Themselves as Powerless: How Does It Happen?

Consideration is given to the paradoxical misuse of power by those who perceive themselves as powerless. A general model is presented to account for the coercive response style often shown by adults with low perceived power when they are placed in a position of authority (e.g., as parents or teachers). Specific hypotheses are tested here concerning control-oriented cognitive activity and speech patterns shown by “powerless” adults when their authority is challenged. Women with high or low perceived power (as measured by the Parent Attribution Test) attempted to teach a computer game to a responsive or unresponsive child. “Powerless” women showed high levels of control-oriented appraisal activity preceding teaching interactions and a high level of nonfluency during teaching interactions (an ineffective speech style). It was concluded that the responses shown by “powerless” women set the stage for misunderstanding and future conflict.

Who's the boss ? Differential accessibility of dominance ideation in parent-child relationships

The accessibility of dominance ideation (as opposed to other types of ideation) was measured among parents with high or low perceived power as caregivers. Parents made comparative judgments of self versus child under concurrent memory load or no-load conditions. As predicted, dominance comparisons were found to be highly accessible for low-power parents; that is, attentional load served to increase response latencies in all conditions except those in which low-power parents made dominance judgments. Under cognitive load, low-power parents (unlike high-power parents) rated child as more dominant than self; under no load, however, they rated self as more dominant than child. Decision reversals in the absence of cognitive load were interpreted as defensive corrections. Findings are discussed with respect to the elevated use of coercive control tactics by low-power parents.

In charge but not in control: the management of teaching relationships by adults with low perceived power.

The paradoxical use of punitive force by adults with low perceived power was explored in teaching interactions. Punitive force was measured by the intensity of physical effort used in operating controls that displayed negative feedback to child trainees. Women who differed in perceived power were assigned to (a) situations in which they had high, low, or ambiguous control and (b) responsive, unresponsive, or ambiguously responsive children. Women with low perceived power--when given ambiguous control--were more likely than other women to (a) use high levels of punitive force and (b) show elevated levels of autonomic arousal. Arousal, in turn, partially mediated the relationship between perceived power and use of force. Women with low perceived power were also more likely to attribute intentionality to children whose behavior was ambiguous. Results were interpreted as having implications for violence within adult-child relationships.

The Development of Control over Affective Expression in Nonverbal Behavior

As adults in a Western culture, most of us have come to learn to control the extent to which, and the ways in which, we nonverbally display our emotions and attitudes. We may hide our feelings of disgust. Our anger may be partially concealed with a fixed smile. There are even situations in which we may wish to conceal our positive attitudes; for instance, in a bargaining exchange.

Parent–Child Interaction as a Power Contest

We explored parental use of child derogation as a means of power assertion. Parents interacted with children (own and unrelated) after a judgment task in which competitive ideation was primed or unprimed. Evaluations included (a) face-to-face verbal derogation versus praise and (b) judgments of childrens task performance. When primed, fathers with low perceived power (as measured by the Parent Attribution Test) were more likely than other fathers to derogate the performance of both related and unrelated children. Similar trends were found for mothers. Results were interpreted as suggesting that parents with low perceived power use child derogation as a means of attempted power repair.

Child maltreatment: Parental attributions as moderators of affective communication to children at risk for physical abuse

Current theories of physical child abuse are concerned with the family as an interaction system in which children are both targets and potential elicitors of parental violence. To understand the long-term causes and immediate triggers of physical abuse, researchers now turn to two-way interactive forces operating between all family members as well as between the family and the larger society (e.g., Belsky, 1980; Burgess, 1979; Parke and Collmer, 1975). In the same way, concern for the effects of child maltreatment have shifted to consider long-term transactional systems (Aber and Cicchetti, 1984, Cicchetti and Rizley, 1981). In this chapter, we will describe a transactional model of physical abuse that adds to existing models by including cognitions as moderators of affect. Although developmental theorists have consistently attended to the effects of events on children as mediated by their cognitive capacities, less attention has been directed to the mediating role of caregiver cognitions (Goodnow, 1985). If we are to understand the effect of children on adults (as well as the effects of adults on children), it is essential that we concern ourselves with the varying causal constructions that adults make about the caregiving relationship. In this chapter, we are concerned with the role of both adult and child cognitions in the caregiving interaction process. Additionally, attention will be focused on nonverbal communications of affect as mediators of malfunctioning family systems. Clinical observations of abusive family systems have been implicitly concerned with the role of cognitions and affect. What is needed, however, is greater systematic assessment of these processes.

A Cognitive Approach to Child Mistreatment Prevention among Medically At-Risk Infants.

The authors assessed the effectiveness of a home visitation program in enhancing the early parenting history of infants born at medical risk--a population that is at risk for mistreatment. A randomized clinical trial design was used to compare the effects of a cognitively based extension of the Healthy Start home visitation program (HV+) with a visitation condition that did not include this component (HV). In the HV+ condition, they observed (a) a lower use of corporal punishment, (b) greater safety maintenance in the home, and (c) fewer reported child injuries. The sample (N = 102) was primarily Latino; however, the effects of the intervention were not qualified by ethnicity, maternal education, or immigration status.

Attributional and Behavioral Changes Following Two Behavior Management Interventions with Hyperactive Boys: A Follow-Up Study.

In a 6-month follow-up study of 2 interventions with hyperactive boys, different patterns of improvement were observed for an intervention which focused on self-control and 1 which employed contingent social reinforcement. Of the 2 manipulations, self-control methods produced significantly stronger long-term benefits in terms of the childs increased perception of personal control over academic outcomes; social reinforcement, on the other hand, produced significantly stronger long-term benefits in terms of teacher ratings of hyperactivity or impulsivity (Conners Teacher Rating Scale). Both interventions produced stable changes in terms of decreased behavioral impulsivity as measured by qualitative error scores on the Porteus Mazes.