A total of 40 target children, ranging in age from 10 months to 4 years 10 months
(mean age 31 months) and their mothers, took part in a study, involving a game of
"feeding fish" with different sized marbles in order to test the relation between
maternal praise and performance in children. The mothers and children were
videotaped in their homes.
It was established that children improved their performance on the task as they grew
older, that at a mean age of 35.1 months they smiled selectively more often when
performing at their higher levels of capability and that mothers praised the highest
level of performance relatively more often than lower levels of performance.
Furthermore, mothers praise directed to younger children included reference to the
person and the performance of the actor. Praise directed toward older children,
however, included only reference to the performance of the child. The implications
of these observations for the socialisation of pride are discussed.
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