PSY 324

Childhood and Adolescence

Exam 3 Study Guide 9th ed.

Chapter 10 Emotional Development

Introduction to Chapter 10 Understanding and explaining emotional development continues to be a challenge for psychology. Perhaps we find the task so difficult partly because most people have limited understanding of their own emotions. Perhaps we struggle in part because as soon as we begin to describe and explain emotions they seem to lose their emotional quality and begin to sound like cognitive processes. There have been advances in theories of emotion, but we have a long way to go. Parts of contemporary theories help us understand and explain emotions or things related to emotions, if not the emotions themselves. In spite of our limited scientific understanding of emotions and great diversity among various psychological views of emotions, most of us would agree that emotions are among the most important, if not the most important, psychological phenomena. That emotions have an enormous impact on thoughts, actions, and social relationships is obvious. What they are, how they affect us, and how they develop are questions for which psychology is still searching for satisfactory answers. Emotions Berk defines emotion as "a rapid appraisal of the personal significance of a situation." (p. 401)

1. According to functionalists, emotions prepare us for action on matters of personal importancethey "energize behavior aimed at attaining personal goals." (p. 400) Note that the functionalist view of emotions that is widely accepted among researchers, specifies the functions emotions play in our lives. Functionalists don't worry about defining precisely what emotions are. They are satisfied knowing what emotions do. 2. How do emotions relate to physical health? (p. 403) The textbook isn't as helpful as it could be in this section. It has become relatively common knowledge that stress is generally detrimental to physical health, especially when the person doesn't have effective strategies to cope with stress. Emotions undoubtedly play an important part in this process, increasing or reducing the negative effects of stress. Certainly, stressful life events that are fun and exciting (stimulating positive emotions) do not have the negative effects of life events that are threatening and injurious (stimulating negative emotions). Every experienced parent knows that physical symptoms are sometimes a sign of stress in children, too. Development of Emotional Expression

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3. Define self-conscious emotions. (p. 408) Notice the potential consequences of a selfconscious emotion such as shame being tied to children's self-evaluation. (pp. 408-409 4. What does emotional self-regulation refer to? (p. 409) Note examples of primitive forms of emotion regulation in infants and how important it is for parents to provide sensitive caregiving. (p. 410) 5. How do parents affect emotional self-regulation during early childhood? (pp. 410411) 6. During what period of development are there rapid gains in emotional self-regulation? Berk states that children should have strategies for managing their emotions by age 10. (p. 412) 7. What are examples of basic emotional self-regulation skills in middle childhood and beyond? (p. 412) Berk defines two broad types of strategies for regulating emotion: problemcentered strategies and emotion centered strategies. Specific examples of basic emotional self-regulation skills are the ability to tolerate teasing and physical aggression without crying and being able to "lose" without being uncontrollably upset or angry. What are some other examples? 8. What are the consequences of failing to learn basic emotional self-regulation skills in middle childhood? The textbook doesn't directly address the issue of what happens when children haven't learned these basic emotional self-regulation skills by middle childhood, but you can probably recall from your own childhood what happens to kids who can't tolerate teasing or losing, for example. These children are easy victims for bullies and are vulnerable to peer rejection and victimization (see Bullies and Their Victims, p. 621). 9. Define emotional self-efficacy. (p. 412) What are the effects of lack of emotional self-efficacy? The textbook doesn't address this issue directly. Lack of emotional self-efficacy, the feeling of not being able to control one's emotions, is frightening and undermines self-esteem. When children who lack emotional self-efficacy are attacked, they are doubly threatened. They are threatened by the attacker and by the fear of experiencing overwhelming emotions. 10. Define emotional display rules. (p. 412) Socio-emotional Processes 11. What does social referencing refer to in terms of emotional reactions? (p. 414) Social referencing begins early in infancy and is a powerful force in emotional development. Parents typically take advantage of infants' social referencing

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tendencies to show them what emotional reactions are appropriate in various situations, such as when reading stories to them. Fewer parents realize the importance of continuing to model appropriate emotional reactions for children during childhood and adolescence.

12. How is social referencing involved in emotional development during childhood? Again, the textbook does not address this issue directly after infancy. Modeling of appropriate emotions by parents during early and middle childhood is important for children to learn that others can feel differently than they do in any given situation and to learn about others' emotional reactions as clues to their ideas and feelings. Because infants and children are highly attentive to parents' emotional reactions, parents can use this process as a powerful technique in guiding their children's emotional development. Sadly, inappropriate emotional displays by parents are equally effective in teaching children inappropriate emotional reactions and in interfering with learning about others' emotions. 13. What are two examples of emotional understanding that develop during middle childhood? (p. 415) These examples are presented as resulting from cognitive development in middle childhood, but the textbook doesn't explain fully. The underlying cognitive skills are the concrete operational skills that develop beginning in middle childhood. Recall that concrete operational thinking permits attention to two or more aspects of a situation, enabling children to consider more than one factor in explaining an emotional reaction. The example of this in the book is interpreting a picture showing a happy-faced child with a broken bicycle. Also, concrete operational thinking permits one higher-order concept to be comprised of two or more sub-concepts, which enables children to understand that an emotional reaction may have more than one part. The book mentions mixed emotions as an example of this. These cognitive skills applied to emotions generally develop around ages 8-10 (3rd-4th grade). 14. Why is it important for parents to label their children's emotions and discuss them? (p. 416) Empathy 15. Define empathy. What are the three components of empathy? (pp. 416-417) Notice that sympathy differs from empathy in that sympathy refers to feeling concern for another person's plight or distress. Empathy certainly can facilitate sympathetic reactions, but, as noted in the Home as a Secure Base for Development comments at the end of the chapter 10 study guide, some people's response to a person in distress is anger rather than sympathy.

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16. Berk defines prosocial behavior as "altruistic behavior, actions that benefit another person without any expected reward for the self." (p. 417) That definition is too limited. Prosocial behavior is any behavior toward another person that is positive. Prosocial behaviors exhibit empathy (caring about another) in the form of acts of kindness, such as comforting, sharing and helping. As Berk points out, empathy is an important part of the process. However, not all prosocial behavior is altruistic. Many times, people expect to gain something for themselves by being kind and helpful. That isn't altruistic, but it is prosocial. 17. How do parenting styles affect empathetic responses? (p. 418) The textbook does a nice job with the role of parents in the development of emotions in the section on Individual Differences. Temperament 18. Define temperament and describe the easy, difficult, and slow-to-warm-up temperaments. (pp. 418-420) Temperament is a term most properly applied to infants. After infancy, other behavioral characteristics develop and temperament is too limited and basic to adequately describe children's personal styles. However, infant temperament is important in terms of its implications for childhood. As an example, Difficult infants are at high risk for developing adjustment problems in early and middle childhood. As Berk points out in the section Stability of Temperament, many children change dramatically in their behavioral style after infancy. The stability of temperament from infancy to middle childhood for most children is quite low, although children rarely change from one extreme to the opposite extreme. (p. 423) 19. Describe the goodness-of-fit model of temperament and how it helps explain why children with difficult temperament are at high risk for developing behavior problems. . (p. 426) Note that difficult infants and children often elicit coercive parenting practices, which tend to increase their negative, unruly behavior over time. (Coercive parenting is described in Figure 12., p. 522) Difficult temperament decreases during infancy when parents are able to use sensitive rather than coercive parenting practices. (p. 426) Attachment 20. Define attachment. (p. 428) Like temperament, attachment is a phenomenon most properly applied to infants. (Bowlby's ethological theory, p. 428) After infancy, affectional relationships have additional and qualitatively different dimensions than the basic characteristics of attachment.

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In the narrowest sense, attachment is the emotional dependency of an infant on its caregiver. It is an emotional connection between a relatively helpless infant and a relatively powerful adult. Later emotional relationships between peers have some of the characteristics of attachment (desiring and being comforted by togetherness). However, these relationships are fundamentally different in that they involve two people of relatively equal power and competence. Consequently, when the term attachment is used to refer to relationships after infancy, its meaning is somewhat different. But, because attachment is the very earliest form of social relationships, it lays the foundation for emotional and social development from early childhood on.

21. Describe secure attachment. (p. 430) Note the Strange Situation method of assessing attachment. (p. 430 and Table 10.2) Of the various types of attachment identified using the Strange Situation, secure attachment is ideal for infants. 22. What factors influence how stable or unstable the quality of attachment is over time? (p. 432) 23. Define sensitive caregiving and specify how it is related to secure attachment. (p. 434) 24. Define interactional synchrony and specify how it is related to secure attachment. (p. 434) Emotional synchrony is an important part of this overall interactional synchrony. 25. Can infants be securely attached to fathers? (p. 437) I included this because fathers have been neglected in the research on child development. 26. Are children who were securely attached as infants more likely to show good psychological and social adjustment? (p. 439) What factor determines whether attachment security leads to positive development later? (p. 440) 27. How is continuity of caregiving related to maintaining the benefits of secure infant attachment throughout the childhood years? (pp. 440-441) Note the list of long-term consequences: more self-confidence, more advanced emotional understanding, better relationships with teachers and peers, more effective social skills, a stronger sense of moral responsibility, and higher achievement motivation. You don't need to memorize the list, but notice the breadth of the effects. Home as a Secure Base for Development Attachment is a psychological process within infants. Secure attachment occurs when the caregivers provide a secure base. While the term secure base is widely used in

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discussing attachment (and is used in various places in the textbook) it doesn't paint the whole picture. Caregivers who display sensitive caregiving provide a secure base for infants. Ideally, caregivers are also emotionally synchronized with their infant. They show affection to the infant and are emotionally responsive. Examples of interactional synchrony include reflecting the positive emotions displayed by the infant, such as happiness and surprise, and displaying empathetic emotional reactions to the negative emotions displayed by the infant, such as distress, fear, and anger. If you think about it, the term secure base can be stretched to include this emotional responsiveness (interactional synchrony) by the caregiver because it provides an environment that is safe for the infant to display all kinds of emotions. The textbook points out that maintaining secure attachment requires continuity of caregiving. Many parents who provide a secure base for their infant during the first year or so don't maintain that secure base approach to childrearing over the years. Lots of parents shift to a coercive parenting style around age two. Lots of parents become uninvolved during late childhood or adolescence. How many parents are in interactional synchrony with their adolescent? Ideally, every environment a child or adolescent lives in should be a safe, secure place. Parents who are meeting their parenting responsibilities do everything possible to make sure their home is a safe, secure place. In the section of the textbook on parenting styles (pp. 573-575) we will see how the authoritative parenting style works to make children feel safe and secure within the family. For now, we can see how the authoritative parenting style fosters the development of empathy in children. Because authoritative parents have a warm, nurturant parenting style, they serve as models of empathy and sympathy. Because authoritative parents have clear, reasonable expectations for their children they also teach their children about appropriate emotions. They accurately label emotions. They intervene when children display inappropriate emotional reactions and help them learn appropriate emotions. In short, they model and teach kindness. On the other hand, punitive parenting interferes with the development of empathy (p. 417). Children with punitive parents are likely to become antisocial: non-empathetic, self-centered, impulsive, non-compliant and mean (hostile and aggressive). Instead of feeling sympathetic toward a person in distress, children who are parented punitively feel angry. (Abusive parents are an extreme example of this anger reaction to their child's distress.) Coercive parents provide models of hostility: non-empathetic, unsympathetic, aggressive, and punitive. We'll learn more about the consequences of coercive parenting in the section of chapter 12 entitled, The Family as Training Ground for Aggressive Behavior. (pp. 520-522)

Chapter 11 Self and Social Understanding

Introduction to Chapter 11

PSY 324

Childhood and Adolescence

Exam 3 Study Guide 9th ed.

Social cognition refers to knowledge and information processing activities related to social objects (self, others), social relationships, and the dynamics of social systems. The principles described by Piaget, Vygotsky, and the information processing theorists (the Atkinson and Shiffrin store model) apply to social content as well as they apply to the world of physical objects and events. Social phenomena are more complex and much less concrete and directly observable than physical phenomena. As a result, developmental achievements in thinking about the physical world tend to occur at least a couple of years before those same cognitive processes are applied to the social world. In many cases, we don't apply our more mature thinking skills to social situations, sometimes because we are overwhelmed, sometimes because we don't have enough knowledge or experience, and sometimes because we're just being selfish. Thinking about the Self 1. Note the general trends in social-cognitive development. (p. 447) 2. Define perspective taking. (p. 452) 3. Recursive thought is a form of perspective taking in which the individual can consider other peoples perspectives as well as their own. (p. 453) It develops during middle childhood the early elementary school years. Recursive thought allows you to consider both your view and another persons view of a situation. Among other things, it enables you to see how you appear to others consider others feeling and ideas think in terms of reciprocity (e.g., taking turns) and cooperation. As a result, recursive thought leads to major gains in social skills (p. 454), including understanding that conflicts often arise because of legitimately different interpretations of the same situation knowing when it is appropriate to disguise ones emotions 4. Define self-concept. (p. 456) Note that recursive thought enhances the ability to make social comparisons. (p. 458) Being able to compare oneself to others is a key ingredient in the development of self-concept in middle childhood. 5. Define self-esteem and describe how it is structured in middle childhood. (p. 461 and Figure 11.5) 6. Relate self-esteem to child-rearing styles. (p. 464) How did junior high school students' self-esteem change from the 1970s through the 1990s, and how is that change reflected in achievement and adjustment? (p. 464) 7. Define attributions. (p. 464) Note that we divide psychological causes of behavior into two types: ability and effort.

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8. How do mastery-oriented attributions differ from learned helplessness? (p. 465 and Figure 11.6) Think about this. If you think of yourself as not being good at something (math, writing, computers, or whatever) do you believe you could improve your ability if you tried, or is your ability is limited no matter what? 9. Note ways of fostering mastery-oriented attributions in the Applying What We Know section. (p. 468) Identity 10. Define identity. (pp. 468-469) One of Erikson's important contributions to developmental psychology is his characterization of identity development during adolescence. Erikson's conception of identity is a mature self-concept with many parts, all of which are integrated into a meaningful whole (something like the organization shown in the self-esteem hierarchy in Figure 11.5). Major areas of life addressed in identity development include: career, religion, politics, gender roles, and sexual orientation. (p. 470) One aspect of Erikson's ideas not emphasized in the textbook is the temporal aspect: past, present, and future. Erikson included in identity development the process of finding a way to meaningfully integrate past, present, and future selves: who you were as a child, who you are as an adolescent, and who you hope to be as an adult. 11. Describe the four identity statuses. (p. 470 and Table 11.1) 12. What are the implications of the various identity statuses for healthy psychosocial development? (p. 471) Note that development from diffusion or foreclosure to moratorium to achievement is normal and healthy. In the long run, foreclosure and diffusion are maladaptive and lead to adjustment difficulties. 13. How does the concept of the family as a secure base relate to the process of identity development? (p.473) 14. In the section Identity Development among Ethnic Minority Adolescents on p. 475, note that minority adolescents face a very complex and challenging process of finding a way to blend mainstream and minority-group values into a bicultural identity that not only works for them as individuals but is accepted by both their majority culture and their minority group. 15. Describe the developmental trend in in-group favoritism and out-group prejudice during middle childhood, after age 7 or 8. (pp. 477-478) Note that validation of prejudiced attitudes by society in general and by specific authority figures (teachers, for example) play a crucial role in promoting the development of in-group favoritism and out-group prejudice. (pp. 477 and 478) Social Problem-Solving

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Childhood and Adolescence

Exam 3 Study Guide 9th ed.

16. Define and list the 6 steps in social problem solving. (p. 480 and Figure 11.10) 17. How do children who get along well with peers differ in terms of social problemsolving skills from children with peer difficulties? (pp. 480-481) 18. Berk points out that social problem solving improves greatly over the preschool and early childhood years, largely as a result of gains in perspective-taking capacity in particular, recursive thought. This makes sense when you recall that recursive thought enables children to see others points of view, understand social strategies such as takingturns and cooperating. (see item 3 above) Note the variety of concepts and strategies that need to be dealt with when trying to help children who have not developed adequate social problem solving skills. (p. 481) In addition to working on each of the 6 components of social problem solving, it is also necessary to help them develop more advanced perspective taking skills, specifically, recursive thought.

Identity Development
Children commonly have many ideas about themselves that are mirror images of how their parents view them. In adolescents and adults, these ideas are described as foreclosed. They are aspects of the self to which the person has a strong commitment without having examined and individualized them. Having some foreclosed aspects of self is probably a good thing, at least temporarily. (It would be chaotic to tackle every aspect of identity development at the same time.) As adolescents begin to develop insights into themselves (partly based on social comparisons to parents and peers), they begin to explore how their ideas work for them as individuals. This time of thinking, learning, and exploring is called moratorium. Through additional life experience, adolescents begin to make firm, personalized commitments to aspects of their identity. Erikson proposed that there was an overall process of identity development that could end in identity achievement, identity diffusion, or somewhere in-between. There is enough evidence to show that different identity statuses are associated with differences in psychological adjustment. As the textbook points out in discussing overall identity status, achievement and moratorium are adaptive, foreclosure and diffusion are maladaptive. A fuller understanding of identity development takes into account that the overall process can be broken down into parts which develop through different paths and at different times. Here are some examples of identity statuses within different aspects of identity. In the area of career identity, the moratorium status is reflected in such things as choosing a major and selecting options within a major. Because career identity development consumes so much of a college student's time and energy, other areas are often put "on hold." Many students who are comfortable with the religious traditions of their childhood and adolescence exhibit foreclosure in religious identity. Often, they plan to do some thinking and exploring to personalize their religious identity in the future. Political identity is an area in which many students are comfortable with diffusion. Diffusion reveals itself in a "Don't know, don't care" attitude. Foreclosure and diffusion

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are often part of normal identity development, but may be signs of trouble if they occur in areas of central importance to the person. For example, diffusion in the area of career identity is a problem for a college student: the "don't know" part may be OK, but the "don't care" part isn't. Foreclosure can be a problem for a pre-med student who is failing academically, but is still certain of becoming a doctor because "mom and dad are both doctors and I've always known I was going to be one, too." Finally, identity development does not stop at the end of adolescence as Erikson's theory suggests. Instead, adults review and revise aspects of identity periodically throughout adulthood. Some psychologists have suggested that adults typically review their identity and make adjustments in their lives roughly every 10 years.

Chapter 12 Moral Development

Introduction to Chapter 12 Moral development is surely one of the most important aspects of human development. As Berk points out in the introduction to this chapter, morality within individuals is commonly divided into three components: emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. Theorists and researchers have found that these three components of morality develop according to different principles and on different schedules. Consequently, we often see that an individual's feelings, thoughts, and actions are not in harmony in a moral situation. Independence among emotions, cognition, and behavior is a normal part of development, especially during middle childhood. Building connections among these components requires time and developmentally appropriate experiences. Examples of independence between thought and action are very common in the early elementary grades when children are learning to follow rules. Even preschoolers are very good at learning verbal rules. However, the self-control skills needed to behave in compliance with rules aren't very effective until after about 8 to 10. As a result, young children can often answer the question, "What's the rule about ?" But, they aren't always successful in using the rule to control their own behavior. In these situations, adults tend to assume children are being intentionally "naughty." They knew the rule, but broke it anyway. Unless this child has been raised to be noncompliant and impulsive through coercive or overindulgent parenting, he or she probably isn't being naughty, but is simply exhibiting the weak link between thought and action that is typical of young children. During the process of moral development, each component tends to operate according to different principles, to be learned in different ways, and to be influenced by different factors. You will notice as you read this chapter that moral reasoning and moral behavior develop differently and are explained by different theories. However, as individuals become more mature, their behavior becomes more consistent with their moral reasoning. Consistency among feelings, thoughts, and actions is a sign of moral maturity. Moral Development

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1. Describe 3 components or facets of morality as studied in psychology. (p. 485) 2. Define internalization. (p. 488) 3. What are three key features of inductive discipline. (p. 489) Note that using induction as a discipline technique is very effective in promoting moral development: children may form a script (p. 298) that deters them from committing the same transgression in the future because they view the discipline as fair. (Berk explains this on page 489.) 4. How does modeling fit into the process of moral development? (p. 490) 5. Children learn and internalize the basic prosocial values and behaviors, including sharing, helping and empathy, during infancy and early childhood. What characteristics of parents make them effective models for their children's internalization of prosocial values? (p. 491) Punishment 6. What are the effects of punishment? (pp. 491-492) 7. Note the prevalence of U. S. parents' use of spanking, slapping, pinching, shaking, and hitting children with a hard object. (Figure 12.3) Psychologists who study the effects of various forms of discipline caution against the use of spanking (and other forms of corporal punishment) for two reasons: (1) there are nonaversive alternatives for accomplishing the same disciplinary goals, and (2) no one knows where the line is between mild spanking that may be safe to use and more severe corporal punishment that is known to be dangerous. 8. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy on discipline was published in 1998 and reaffirmed by the AAP in 2004. The recommendation section of the document states: Because of the negative consequences of spanking and because it has been demonstrated to be no more effective than other approaches for managing undesired behavior in children, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents be encouraged and assisted in developing methods other than spanking in response to undesired behavior. (The link to the AAP website is in the External Resources area of Blackboard.) 9. If a parent feels that some punishment is necessary, what can be done to reduce the negative effects? (p. 494) In the context of a warm parent-child relationship, the only forms of punishment that should be needed are very mild (brief time-outs, reasonable withdrawal of privileges, and parental disapproval). 10. What does positive discipline refer to? (p. 495 Applying What We Know) Berk uses the term positive parenting in this section describing positive discipline techniques. Kohlberg's Theory

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11. Which of the 3 components of moral development (emotional, cognitive, behavioral components described on p. 485) is covered by Kohlbergs theory? (p. 499) 12. Describe moral reasoning at each of the three levels in Kohlberg's theory: preconventional, conventional and postconventional. (pp. 500-502) 13. Describe the longitudinal trends in moral reasoning in terms of Kohlberg's three levels. Using the figure below, identify which level is most commonly observed during middle childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Percentage of Moral Reasoning at Each Level at Ages 10, 14, 20, and 36.
Data are based on Colby, Kohlberg, Gibbs and Lieberman (1983), Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% age 10 age 14 age 20 age 36 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

14. Many studies have shown that on hypothetical dilemmas, everyday moral problems, and the SMR-SF (p. 499), adolescent and adult females display reasoning at the same or higher stages as do their male counterparts. What does this indicate about Gilligans claims that (1) Kohlbergs theory is biased against women and that (2) justice and caring are NOT gender-specific types of moral reasoning? (p. 503) Influences on Moral Development 15. Note what personality style is associated with maturity of moral reasoning. (p. 504) 16. What kinds of child-rearing practices are associated with large gains in moral maturity among children and adolescents? (p. 504) 17. How does peer interaction promote more mature moral reasoning? (p. 505) 18. In the Moral Reasoning and Behavior section, note the behaviors that are typical of adolescents who have achieved higher levels of moral reasoning. How does moral identity increase the chances that people will act in a manner consistent with their moral judgments? (p. 506)

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Self-Control and Aggression 19. Define self-control in the context of moral standards and behavior (p. 514) and relate it to moral self-regulation. (p. 515) By what age should the basic capacity for self control be in place? Note that this basic self-control only gradually becomes effective during the elementary school years. (Milestones, p. 517) 20. Define reactive (hostile) aggression (p. 517) and relational aggression. (p. 518) 21. Are boys and girls who are high in aggression during childhood also likely to be high in antisocial behaviors including aggression and delinquency during adolescence? What about children who are moderate to low in aggressiveness? (p. 519) 22. The classic path to chronic delinquency is the early-onset type as explained in Two Routes to Adolescent Delinquency. What early childhood and middle childhood factors are likely to result in this type of adolescent delinquency? (pp. 520-521 and Figure 12.5) 23. What are the key characteristics of coercive parenting? How does coercive parenting promote conflict and aggression within the family? (pp. 520-521 and Figure 12.6) 24. List examples of distorted thoughts about self and others that are typical of aggressive children. (pp. 522-523) 25. Treatment of antisocial youths is most successful when interventions focus on parents as well as adolescents. What are some of the key aspects of parent training that are helpful? (pp. 520523) In the Social-Cognitive Interventions section, find four important aspects of intervention with an aggressive child. (p. 525) As Berk says, "Even multidimensional treatments can fall short if young people remain embedded in hostile home lives, poor-quality schools, antisocial peer groups, and violent neighborhoods." (p. 525) Discipline and Punishment There is no generally-accepted scientific definition of discipline. Most people think of discipline as something a parent does to a child when the child misbehaves. However, developmental psychologists commonly use the term "discipline" to cover the whole range of things parents do, from punishing misbehavior to rewarding good behavior. So, we can understand the relationship between discipline and punishment by thinking of two forms of discipline: positive discipline and negative discipline or punishment. Punishment is another term for negative types of discipline, including scolding, spanking, and "grounding."

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If we want our children to be well-behaved, we need to use positive forms of discipline. One thing we need to do is to point out the effects of the child's behavior on others. (Remember learning about induction on p. 485?) When a child does something kind, caring, or helpful toward another person, we want to be sure to point it out and emphasize how good it made that other person feel. We need to do the same thing when a child does something mean or hurtful toward another person, but we want to make sure we don't do it in a way that is hurtful (embarrassing or humiliating) lest we be guilty of the very thing we don't want our child to do. Another form of positive discipline is rewarding good behavior (p. 490). Too often, adults expect good behavior, so they ignore it when it happens. Ignoring a behavior is a good way to stop it. Everyone who wants to stop good behavior, raise your hand. The textbook points out (p. 491) that "using sharp reprimands or physical force to restrain or move a child is justified when immediate obedience is necessary - for example, when a 3-year-old is about to run into the street." Berk's intention is to suggest that you may need to yell "STOP," run after your 3-year-old, scoop her into your arms, and carry her to safety to prevent her from being hit by a car. Berks' statement does not refer to hitting, spanking, or screaming at a child. There is no intention to suggest that hitting or spanking is ever justified, under any circumstances. The goal of restraining a child is to prevent the child from being hurt, not to punish or to inflict pain. If a child is in an unsafe situation, steps should be taken to make the environment safer so that the use of physical force is not needed. Of all the many reasons to avoid punishment, perhaps the most important one is that punishment hurts. It isn't good for children to be hurt, especially by their parents. In addition, punishment interferes with moral development. Punished children become sneaky and dishonest as they discover ways to behave as they wish without getting caught. To make matters worse, children typically engage more frequently in behaviors for which they are punished. If all this weren't bad enough, punishment makes children more aggressive and antisocial. Even the mere threat of punishment makes children more aggressive and unruly (as we saw in Figure 12.6 showing the effects of coercive discipline).