Let's take telephone interruptions, for example. Mom continues her conversation on the phone. Sylvia tugs violently at Mom's pants. Mom pulls the extension cord as far as it will go into the hallway. Sylvia now shrieks, stomping loudly over to mom.
Mom jumps to the portable phone.
Sylvia, on all fours now, works hard to dent the linoleum. Pediatricians and psychologists alike advise ignoring behaviors you don't wish to see again. If we view Sylvia's interrupting behavior as a giant weed, we would advise parents not to water these weeds with their attention, but instead to ignore them. Take a look at the phone scenario. Whether Mom looks away from the phone to scold Sylvia, reaches over to hand Sylvia a cookie, or simply reminds her that she is not to interrupt her mother while she is on the phone, makes absolutely no difference to Sylvia.