孩子犯错只惩罚？那只会让他们变本加厉

　　Strict parents who punish their children may not help them behave.

　　许多严厉的父母都会惩罚孩子，但是这或许并不能帮助孩子们端正行为。

　　Instead, scolding youngsters only encourages them to continue with their bad habits, new research suggests.

　　相反一项最新研究表明，责骂青少年只会让他们继续自己的坏习惯。

　　The findings are in stark contrast to the substantial body of evidence which says the opposite of the latest German study.

　　这些发现与大量证据形成了鲜明的对比——而这些证据所表明的事实正好和这项德国研究相反。

　　It showed children can only learn to stop undesirable tendencies if they are given an alternative - not just criticism.

　　这项研究表明，孩子只有在有选择的时候才会停止不良行为——而不只是批评。

　　Only giving children the option of punishment for misbehaving encourages them to continue, scientists said.

　　科学家们表示称，如果孩子面临的选项只有惩罚的话，那么他们就会继续自己的不良行为。

　　Professor Andreas Eder at the Institute of General Psychology of the University of Würzburg was behind the study.

　　德国维尔茨堡大学普通心理学研究所的安德烈亚斯·埃德教授领导了这项研究。

　　He said: ’We were able to show that punishment alone does not automatically cause the punished behaviour to be suppressed.’

　　据他表示：“我们可以证明，单单惩罚这一项措施并不能够自动地使得孩子们摒弃这种行为。”

　　For the study, researchers asked participants to complete a simple task involving a number flashing on a screen.

　　在这项研究中，研究人员要求参与者完成一项简单的任务——对屏幕上闪烁的数字进行操作。

　　The scientists were taken aback by this outcome, which showed punishment alone is not enough to stop undesirable behaviour.

　　但是最终的结果却让科学家们相当震惊——表明单单惩罚这一项措施并不能阻止人的不良行为。

　　In search of a reason why, the experiment was repeated. Again there were two keys, one delivering a weak shock, the other a strong one.

　　为了寻找原因，科学家们又做了一遍这个实验。同样的，试验中又安置了两个按键，一个会发出低强度电击，另一个会发出高强度电击。

　　Participants pressed the key quicker when it was followed by a weak shock, the scientists found.

　　科学家们发现，当即将受到低强度电击时，参与者们按键的速度会变快。

　　They said it showed punishment didn’t always suppress bad behaviour, even if participants knew something unpleasant would follow.

　　科学家们表示称，惩罚并不总是会抑制不良行为，即使参与者们知道将会发生一些不好的事情。

　　The latest findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

　　这项最新研究刊载在《实验心理学》期刊之上。