The effects of expectancy and parenthood on observations by parents

With the move from clinical settings to the "natural" environment, parents have become mediators of behavioral change with their children. In this role, parents often serve as both experimenters and observers. The present study investigated some of the parameters of parental observations such as sex of parent, reliability, effects of expectancy, and effects of parenthood. Four sets of parents were trained on a six-category behavioral code via video tape. Parents then observed four, equivalent (equal number of positive and negative behaviors) 10-minute video tapes, each tape being a different child and a different condition. The four conditions used were: positive expectancy, negative expectancy, neutral, and own-child. Given the small amount of training in observations (one hour), the parents proved to be reliable observers — mean reliability of .79. There were no significant effects on the observational data due to sex of parent nor expectancy