Evening star., 1941-11-03
By WILLIAM PINKERTON.

framing IHeT cHuQTeH.
BY WILLIAM PINKERTON.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. Nov. 3.-"If
you want loving children who like
to be with their parents, you'd bet
ter try rewarding them more than
you punish them"
That's the advice to parents from
two Yale research men who have
just completed a study OF learning
principles as they operate among
animals and men.
And Papa better see that he gets
his turn at handing out favorS to
the children
IF a fathers only relationship
with his children comes when they
have to be punished-and he never
gets a chance to hand out lollipops
and ice cream cones-the children
are going to shy away from Papa"
they conclude.
Too much punishment from Papa
and too few rewards-are what
built up the stern father" idea,
they point out.
Old Ideas Neglected.
Punishment is necessary to train
ing children, the researchers agree,
but the loving child is the one who
gets more rewards for. doing right
(both in presents and praise than
he gets punishment for doing wrong
There is nothing particularly new
in these ideas of child-training, they
remark-"they are ideas that peo-
pie know in a common-sense way,
but all too often they are not
applied
The average parent has many
other duties besides training his
children, they observe, and, unfor-
tunately, punishment is extremely
handy for a hard-pressed parent"
Learn to Love Parents.
In a joint interview. DR.. Neal A.
Miller, a psychologist, and DR.. John
Dollard, social anthropologist, de-
clared that people learn to do the
things they are rewarded for doing
Merely repeating an act over and
over will not make person learn
unless some kind Of reward is at
tached In other words, practice
does not always make perfect"
They believe that children's be-
havior is not guided by instinct but
by learning: and also that children
are not born with natural love
of their parents but must learn
family attitudes.
Advice to parents is not included
in Social Learning and Imitation"
just published to explain their
theory of learning. But their stud
les included the reports Of observant
mothers. backed up by simple ex-
periments among school children.
Dollard is the father of three chill
dren.~~-g - - =
Wrong doing Rewarded.
In too many homes, the two men
observed, children are promptly pun
ished- for doing wrong hut are NOT
rewarded for doing the right thing.
If a mother says. Mary, don't
bother me: I'm busy" the child gets
no reward for obeying unless the
mother later thinks to praise her
for being quiet. And without re-
ward, the child does not learn to
obey.
On the other hand, they said,
many parents teach their children
the very habits they want to stop,
by rewarding bad behavior. Some
times a child is ignored for making
a polite request and is rewarded for
making a fuss. Such a child may
learn to fuss regularly for what she
wants.
Rewards should be passed out
only when the child is doing what
is right. they said Whenever pos
sible, punishments also should be
meted out at the time the crime"
occurs. With older children, the
same effect can be accomplished by
stating exactly what the child has
done wrong before Furnishing him.
Slap Often Works.
In training a child, they said, "a
good licking" may be less effective
sometimes than a simple slap on
the wrist.
A single slap on the wrist just as
the child is reaching for the forbid
den gas-jet is an example of pun
ishment rigidly applied.
This punishment is good for three
reasons: 1T is given at the place
of the crime; Pit makes the child
do the very thing he must learn
pull his hand back from the gas
jet; 3-as soon as the child does
the right thing, the pain stops.
Similarly in training children to
keep out Of a trafnc-heavy street,
slap on the face or the front
of the legs is better than . spank
ing, because it makes the child
draw back from the street. In time,
the child learns to draw back au-
tomatically when approaching the
curb.
Large Doses Ineffective.
Punishment may be ineffective If
1t is meted out in large doses with
out regard for the circumstances,
the researchers concluded.
Unless a child knows that he
can escape punishment by changing
his ways, he won't even try to
learn" Dollard said.
Punishment leads to escape, re-
treat and flight" so that q child
punished too often will learn to
shy away from his parents and
other grown-ups.
Reward encourages friendliness
and love toward the person giving
out the rewards, and causes q child
to enjoy being near his parents.
You're going to get along with
people-whether children, friends
or business associates-if you keep
Z good sound balance of reward" !"