ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on attachment, early interaction, dyadic versus triadic situations, naturalistic versus structured situations, interaction with boys versus girls, paternal sensitivity, indirect influences and highly involved fathers. Several studies have suggested that mother-child interaction has a direct effect on children cognitive development, whereas fathers influence is indirect. A significant portion of early father-child research focussed on the question of the child's attachment to figures other than the mother. Yogman has reported that fathers tend to touch infants with rhythmic tapping patterns more than mothers do, and mothers to vocalize in soft in face-to-face interaction. The chapter explores the implications of parents differential sensitivity to the decreased attentiveness and responsiveness of children with handicaps. Parents have particular goals in socializing their children within a particular cultural context, and what constitutes competence in one culture may be dissimilar from competence in other cultures. Parent-child interaction, assessed in a dyadic situation, has been shown to change considerably in triadic interaction.
