"Just saying to a child, 'You know this is wrong. Why do you keep doing it?' may not be an effective strategy before the age of 8," Davis-Kean said. "Younger children may know it's wrong, but they haven't associated that knowledge with their own behavior."
With children younger than age 8, it may be more effective to try to change their behaviors directly—either by giving them time-outs to discourage negative behavior or by rewarding them for positive behavior.
With children over the age of 8, encouraging children to think differently about their behavior may have more of an impact, she said.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Mind Of An Eight-Year-Old
At the magical age of eight, belief synchs with behavior
