In this study 34 (17 dependent, 17 competent) 4-year-old boys were chosen from a group of 165 children observed in 11 nurseries. An episode sampling technique was used to study patterned interactions with children, teachers, and observers. Each of the boys was observed in interaction with his mother and father by three observers in a semi-structured laboratory setting. The parents were then interviewed while the child was again studied in laboratory interaction. Six judgments for dependence and competence were made for the child while the parents were assessed by multiple methods on four variables. Variables included three "types" of parental treatment (treats child as an adult, as an infant, or as a child), and three methods for assessing parental consistency. It was found that the parents of competent children treated the child as a child, rather than as an adult, to a greater extent than did the parents of dependent children. The prediction of a greater tendency by parents of dependent children to infantilize the child was not clearly supported. The parental consistency, as assessed by the discrepancy between global judgments for the parents' philosophy and natural tendencies, was supported indicating that the parents of dependent children were not doing (nature) what they thought they should (philosophy) to the extent the parents of competent children were. (Author/DR)