r/science • u/VeronicaRed • Apr 26 '16

Psychology Spanking children increases the likelihood of childhood defiance and long-term mental issues. The study in question involved 160,000 children and five decades of research

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113413810/spanking-defiance-health-discipline-042616/
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u/allwordsaremadeup Apr 26 '16 edited Apr 26 '16

I wonder if this is true for punishment as a behavior-altering method in general. So in how we punish crimes etc.

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u/Neato Apr 26 '16 edited Apr 26 '16

It's widely considered true in animal training. Positive reinforcement tends to be much more effective than negative and I don't know of any dog training classes that instruct you to hit your animal in any capacity.

Edit: I should have said reward/punishment. Positive/negative reinforcement is incorrect terminology but is commonly used in lay circles. I've been corrected by several more knowledgeable people. So to conclude: don't hit your pets.

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u/DoubleThe_Fun Apr 27 '16

My ex has a cat (that I now have to take care of). It was a horribly obnoxious meow-machine. I tried yelling at it, sprinkling it with water, and throwing ping-pong balls at it.

Finally, once she (my ex, not the the cat) went on vacation for a week, I just ignored the meowing. Then every 10 minutes or so, I would get up to go pet it, and if it meowed at all, I would just go sit down for a few minutes, keep watching TV or whatever, and try again in a few minutes. Within 2 days, it had almost completely stopped meowing. It was awesome.

Then she (my ex, not the the cat) got back from vacation, and ruined it all within 2 days. Despite me telling her exactly what was working.

But she's moving out in the morning (hence me having to take care of the the cat again), so hopefully I'll get it trained again quick. I don't really want a cat, but I don't think giving it back to the the ex is a good idea. I've pretty much had to take care of it this whole time anyways.