Effects of Multimedia Instruction on Mother's Ability to Teach Cognitive Skills to Preschool Children

Summary

Mothers of 60 preschool children participated in a multimedia parent education program designed to improve maternal teaching skills. The mother's locus of control orientation and attitudes toward childrearing were measured, as well as children's cognitive and perceptual abilities. When compared with 60 control group children, the experimental group children exhibited a significant gain in these abilities. This gain could not be explained by the mother's locus of control orientation or their childrearing attitudes. It was concluded that short-term parent education can have a substantial and beneficial impact on mother's ability to foster the intellectual development of their three and four-year-old children.