Abstract
A distinction is made between functionaland intentionalcontrol in parent-child interaction. These concepts are drawn, respectively, from opérant and cognitive models of interaction process. Experimental evidence is presented that cognitive factors such as expectations or hypotheses indeed affect the relations between parents and their own children. This necessitates a further distinction between long-termand short-termcausal effects: Since changes in parents' expectations for their children may lag behind actual changes in children's behavior, short-term effects inferred from observations of ongoing interactions may not reflect the long-term dynamics of the relationship.
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Chapman, M. Isolating causal effects through experimental changes in parent-child interaction. J Abnorm Child Psychol 9, 321–327 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00916836
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00916836