Wilson talks about how adults use rewards and punishments to shape children’s behavior. From his research, he has concluded that both can be effective if used in moderation. He concludes, “Use the minimal sufficiency principle , whereby you dole out rewards and punishments that are strong enough to get your kids to do what you want them to do, but not so strong that the kids think the rewards and punishments are the reason for their behavior.”
He also believes that adults should label a child’s behavior appropriately. Once kids behave, it’s important to label the positive behavior and praise it if we hope to have the child repeat it. Finally, he suggests that adults foster positive attachments with children if we want them to develop autonomy and trust others in their world.
The biggest take away from this weeks study is that if a mentor uses rewards to motivate their child, make sure that your child does not become so fixated on the reward that they fail to focus on the skill you are trying to teach them.
Next week we talk about reducing prejudice.