Parenting for Cognitive Development from 1950 to 2000

Abstract

Over the second half of the twentieth century, changes occurred in parent reports of their engagement in cognitive activities with their young children in the United States. This article argues that the growing trend of parenting for cognitive development in young children in the latter half of the twentieth century is associated with the institutionalization of mass schooling and the legitimization of cognitive development as a central feature of early childhood. The results show that all parents increasingly spent more time engaging in activities related to cognitive development so that by 1991, it was normative behavior. In addition, the results show that mothers' education became an increasingly better predictor of parenting for cognitive development over the second half of the twentieth century but in the last decade of the twentieth century, the association with mothers' education remained constant or diminished slightly as all families increasingly engaged in cognitive development activities.

Parental educational attainment and adult offspring personality: An intergenerational life span approach to the origin of adult personality traits.

“…In recent cohorts, parents with more years of education may have adopted parenting styles that may be detrimental for their child’s Conscientiousness. For example, over the second half of the 20 th century, parents became much more involved in the schooling and education of their children, especially among mothers with more years of education (Schaub, 2010). This involvement may have had the unintended consequence of inhibiting the development of Conscientiousness if parents took on responsibilities instead of the child (e.g., making sure homework was completed and returned on time), which may hinder more than foster the development of this trait.…”

The Effect of Parenting Behavior on the Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom of College Students: The Mediating Role of Perfectionism

“…In recent years, with the rapid development of education and the spread of media, parents are able to obtain correct parenting knowledge more easily (Schaub, 2010). The increasingly developed communication has objectively increased the opportunity to interact with the children, reducing the emotional barriers.…”

Meyer Comment on Downey and Condron

“…Education and cognitive development are broadly valued in U.S. society (Schaub 2010), but there are great socioeconomic status (SES) differences in how families and communities pursue this value. In the ''schooled'' or ''knowledge'' society (Baker 2014), education is a main dimension of stratification.…”