ACHIEVING PARENT-CHILD COORDINATION THROUGH CONVENTION - FIXED-SEQUENCE AND VARIABLE-SEQUENCE CONVENTIONS

Convention provides a major means by which the child can achieve coordinated action with others. One aspect of the structural design of conventions is considered: the composition of a convention's interaction rules. Fixed‐sequence conventions, defined as having only obligatory rules, are differentiated from variable‐sequence conventions, having at least 1 optional rule. Some interactional effects of the 2 types of conventions are illustrated by a set of fixed‐ and variable‐sequence conventions hypothesized for interaction within 2 families. Fixed‐ and variable‐sequence conventions are placed within the larger context of the state sensitivity of conventions: the degree to which each convention provides both for participants' expressing convention‐relevant states and changes in these states, and for their accommodating the interaction to these states and changes—all relevant to achieving coordinated action. The interactional effects of other major sources of state sensitivity are considered and contrasted with those of fixed‐ and variable‐sequence conventions. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved