Parental educational involvement conceived as the arrangement of contingency operations

摘要

This study explored the utility of a conception of parental educational involvement as the arrangement of contingency operations that normatively change: the frequency of children's school-related behaviour, the reinforcing potency of stimuli produced by studying, and children's tendencies to request parental intervention. A child-report measure of parental contingency use was developed and administered to 1520 schoolchildren (Grades Four to Six). An exploratory factor analysis revealed three internally consistent dimensions of parental practices: use of punishment and negative reinforcement contingencies; use of positive reinforcement contingencies; and non-responsiveness to children's requests for educational intervention. Frequencies of use of punishmentegative reinforcement contingencies and of parental non-responsiveness were inversely correlated with use of positive reinforcement contingencies and with teacher's reports of children's achievement. These scales might therefore identify parents whose current educational practices are likely to be less than optimally effective, so that they might be helped to intervene more beneficially in their children's academic affairs.