Developmental Psychology 1997, Vol. 33, No. 3, 480-4 Copyright 1997 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0012-1649/97/53.00 Mother-Child Problem Solving: Continuity Through the Early Childhood Years Beverly I. Fagot University of Oregon and Oregon Social Learning Center Mary Gauvain University of California, Riverside Maternal ratings of child temperament and observed maternal behaviors in the home were collected when children were 18 months old. Both variables were examined as predictors of mothers' problem- solving behaviors with their toddlers at 30 months and die children's independent problem solving at 5 years. Maternal instructional behavior in the home at 18 months and maternal ratings of tempera- ment at 18 months predicted maternal behaviors when the children were 30 months old and child performance in a cognitive problem-solving task. Maternal cognitive assistance during the 18- and 30-month tasks also predicted child cognitive task performance in the laboratory at 5 years of age. These same maternal behaviors were related to the child's performance on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (D. Wechsler, 1967) at age 5, and lack of maternal assistance was related to teacher ratings of learning problems at age 5. This longitudinal study examines continuity in mother and child behavior across the toddler period and the role of early maternal style for the development of child cognitive compe- tence at age 5 years. The children's temperament and mother- child interaction from home observations when the children were 18 months of age were examined in relation to maternal teaching in independent laboratory problem-solving tasks com- pleted when the children were 30 months of age and to the children's problem-solving performance when they were 5 years old. The purpose of this study was to investigate the continuity between early socioemotional characteristics of the child and later maternal and child behaviors during cognitive activity. This research stems from recent attempts to broaden the focus of cognitive developmental research by examining social influences on cognitive development. By introducing socioemotional pro- cesses, such as temperament and mother-child interaction, into the analyses, the interdependencies between the socioemotional and cognitive domains in the early years might be traced and Beverly I. Fagot, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon and Oregon Social Learning Center; Mary Gauvain, Department of Psy- chology, University of California, Riverside. The research was supported by Grant RO1 MH 37911 from the Be- havioral Sciences Research Branch, Family Processes Division, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and by NIMH Postdoctoral Grant MH 16955. Reporting this research has been partially supported by Grant P50 MH 46690, Prevention Research Branch, NIMH, U.S. PHS. We thank the parents and children who have stayed in this study over many years for their participation. We also thank Kate Kavanagh for her help in developing the code and Wanda Grant, Denise Ford, Gene Brown, Martha Hardwick, and Chris Coglin for their assistance on the project. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Beverly I. Fagot, Oregon Social Learning Center, 207 East 5th Avenue, Suite 202, Eugene, Oregon 97401. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to bfagot@oregon.uoregon.edu. thereby provide a more complete picture of development than occurs when these contributions are treated separately. During early childhood, much of children's problem-solving efforts are conducted under the guidance and supervision of their parents (Rogoff, 1990). In recent years, both theory and research in cognitive development have considered parent-child interaction as a primary arena for the development of cognitive skill. This research has been largely influenced by Vygotsky's (1978) notion of the zone of proximal development, which sug- gests that much of cognitive development occurs in social situa- tions as the child's problem solving is guided by an adult or more experienced societal member who structures and models ways to solve a problem. The structure provided in communica- tion serves as a scaffold for the learner, providing contact be- tween old and new knowledge (Wood & Middleton, 1975). in this way, the social world provides the child with cognitive opportunities—opportunities that originate in and are main- tained through the contributions and goals of the participants— that encourage and support learning and growth. Tb date, much of the research exploring this idea has focused on immediate situation factors as influential in directing the course of the interaction (e.g., Rogoff, 1990) and on relatively short-term consequences of these experiences, such as learning outcomes as measured on a solitary posttest for the child imme- diately following the interaction (e.g., Gauvain & Rogoff, 1989). These emphases stem from the nature of the claim itself. Cognitive opportunities that arise as the child and more experi- enced partner collaborate in the child's zone of proximal devel- opment are thought to benefit cognitive growth because the learning situation can be uniquely adapted to the needs and skills of the learner as revealed over the course of the interaction. This understanding has focused attention on immediate task demands as managed by the participants as the critical organiz- ing feature of these sociocognitive transactions. However, factors that participants bring to an interaction, both individually and collectively, may also influence the cognitive opportunities that emerge. The consequences of these encounters, especially when 480 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.