| Abstract: | The nature of adult-child interaction was examined under two conditions: dyadic (adult with one child) and polyadic (adult with four children). The subjects were staff and children in day nurseries, who were observed in a specially set-up task situation. In certain respects the interaction assumed different forms depending on group condition. The effects may be seen in stylistic differences in the adults' behaviour: thus in polyads individual children had not only less speech directed to them but also speech that tended to be more directive and prohibitive. While the total number of bids the adults received from children in polyads was considerably greater than in dyads, the increase was a selective one, referring only to requests for help and not to less urgent demands. The main strategy adopted by adults to cope with the increase in demand was by ignoring, the incidence of which was very much greater under polyadic than under dyadic conditions. Joint involvement of adult and child was also much reduced in the former setting. The implications of these findings for children reared under group care conditions are discussed, and attention is drawn to the importance of situational factors in determining caretaker responsiveness. |
