Cognitive and Linguistic Development in Sociocultural Context

From this week's readings I was intrigued by the concept of parental control on infant activities. I have never thought of the redirection of an infant's attention as a negative or harmful habit until it was associated with disrupting "the child's perseverance and ability to concentrate" (Elkind, 92). If a baby is playing with string and  a parent gives her a doll for a few minutes and then blocks, what habits is the parent, perhaps unintentionally, instilling in their child? This makes me curious as to if the parents who have these types of tendencies continue them throughout their child's growth. Have there been studies to correlate distracted babies with children who have a hard time focusing? Or children with ADD or ADHD? 
I found it interesting when David Elkind's article "The Power of Play" focused on children who are normally singled out as the unfocused and easily distractible, suggesting that they are not at fault but are only a product of a society that does not value individual passions and motivations. As a child I surely came to this barrier, as all my peers most likely did. But as many of them I was told that challenging such a one minded program was not an option and that I had to follow as did everyone who wanted to succeed in the system.