IntroductionHarrison and Magill-Evans (1999) sought to determine whether an infant's interactions with his mother and father during the first year mattered more than whether a child was born premature or full term when it comes to early childhood development. Researchers have reported decreased interactive behavior in preterm infants (Banard, Bee, & Hammond, 1984) and less responsive interactions in preterm parent-infant dyads than in full-term parent-infant dyads (Harrison & Magill-Evans , 1996). As Harrison and Magill-Evans (1999) suggest, many factors influence parents' interactive skills, including parental stress and resources. Therefore, Harrison and Magill-Evans hypothesized that child-environment transactions, as evidenced by mother-child and father-child interactions in combination with parental stress, would be significant predictors of developmental cognitive and language skills of the child. was to use multiple tests that would eliminate confounding variables, while still finding significant support for increasing the child's cognitive abilities through parent-child interaction. Using a longitudinal study involving several tests, Harrison and Magill-Evans (1999) propose that if parent-child interaction is a key factor in early childhood development, then there will be a strong positive correlation between positive parent-child interactions and toddler intelligence. The ExperimentsTo better understand their hypothesis, Harrison and Magill-Evans (1999) matched premature infants to term infants based on sex, expected delivery date, and hospital of birth; the final sample included 49 premature and 54 full-term children. This, compared to fathers' scores, mothers' scores...... middle of paper ......P. Keating (Eds.), Applied developmental psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 39-80). New York: Academic Press. Bayley, N. (1969). Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. New York: PsychologicalCorporation. Harrison, M. J. and Magill-Evans, J. (1996). Mother-father interactions with term and preterm infants during the first year. Research in Nursing & Health, 19, 451-459. Hedrick, DL, Prather, EM, & Tobin, AR (1984). Sequenced Communication Development Inventory: Examiner's Manual. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington. Magill-Evans, J. and Harrison, M.J. (1999). Parent-child interactions and the development of toddlers born prematurely. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 21(3), 292-312. Sumner, G. and Spietz, A. (Eds.). (1994). NCAST Caregiver/Parent-Child Interaction Teaching Manual. Seattle, Washington: NCAST Publications, University of Washington School of Nursing.