Developing the Adult Child Interaction Inventory: A Methodological Study

The Adult Child Interaction Inventory (ACII) was developed as part of a research to practice collaboration between the Boston Children’s Museum and Evergreene Research and Evaluation. Preschoolers, Parents, and Educators: Strategies to Support Early Science Literacy (PPE), funded by the National Science Foundation and led by Boston Children’s Museum aimed to better understand the range of non-verbal as well as verbal interactions that occur between adults and children during collaborative science investigation. Results of project research contributed to the development of an exhibit, Peep’s World, at the Boston Children’s Museum that was designed to optimize such positive adult-child interactions. The Adult Child Interaction Inventory was used throughout the project to help develop and ultimately evaluate the exhibit. The study examined adult-child interaction from the point of view of the adult, looking less specifically at what the child was doing. We identified six roles that appeared regularly, some with more frequency. Within each role we identified specific observable behaviors to aid in coding with the instrument. The list of behaviors was refined with each trial of the instrument. In addition to developing the instrument we also created training materials including a training manual and a DVD with video clips of families in the Peep’s World exhibit. These video clips clearly illustrate the six identified adult roles.

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