Dollinger, S. J., & Brown, D. F. (1979). Simulated parent-child interaction in an undergraduate child psychology course. Teaching of Psychology, 6(3), 180-181. 

This is an oldie, but goodie. The purpose of Dollinger and Brown’s (1979) descriptive study was to demonstrate parent/child interaction and to illustrate a factorial design. Forty-five child psychology students role-played as parents or children. Each student was assigned as a member of one of four triads: parent (tolerant)-child (good), parent (intolerant)-child (egocentric), parent (tolerant)-child (egocentric), parent (intolerant)-child (good). Additionally, there was a student observer in each triad.  A 5-10 minute role-playing session ensued where the child asked for a toy and the parents had to say no. Depending on their directions, the parents were instructed to be tolerant or not and the children be tolerant or not. The observer then interviewed the parent and child and then presented results in the next class period. Students found the activity to be engaging and fun and had very favorable ratings.

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