Recently, there has been increasing focus on gender differences and parenting in research and the popular press. This is especially prominent in light of gender disparities in STEM education. One reason for this disparity might stem from how parents speak to their young children during play (e.g., Crowley, Callanan, Tenenbaum, & Allen, 2001; Tenenbaum & Leaper, 2003).
The goal of this project was to investigate whether parents would speak to their children differently depending on gender in a neutral play setting in our laboratory.
Data for this project came from a study investigating word learning skills in toddlers in my lab at UT Austin. With much help from a talented research assistant, Katherine Soon, we transcribed a random sample of parent-child play sessions. In this project, I examine the types of words parents use with their toddlers during a brief play session with this toy in the lab.