That well-intentioned screen time limit you set for your child? It might actually be making screens more desirable. This video dives into the science behind this paradox and reveals what actually works.

The insights are based on a fascinating study by Michal Maimaran and Yuval Salant called “The effect of limited availability on children’s consumption, engagement, and choice behavior”.

The revealing LEGO Experiment from the study:

Researchers gave two groups of four- to five-year-old children LEGOs to play with.

– Group 1 was given a 10-minute time limit.

– Group 2 was given no time limit at all.

The stunning result: The children with the time limit played significantly longer. They averaged 494 seconds of playtime, while the group with no limit played for only 390 seconds. The restriction itself increased their engagement and desire for the activity.

So, what are better strategies than constant time limits? This video explores alternatives grounded in psychology:

Curate Their Environment: Proactively manage which devices and apps are available in the first place.

Foster Positive Alternatives: Create engaging offline activities that naturally compete with screen time.

Use Natural Consequences: Link the end of screen time to a logical next event rather than an arbitrary timer.

Collaborate on a Plan: Create a media usage schedule with your child to foster autonomy and self-regulation.

Source:
Maimaran, M., & Salant, Y. (2019). The effect of limited availability on children’s consumption, engagement, and choice behavior. Judgment and Decision Making, 14(1), 72-79.

How should you praise children? Research results from motivational psychology provide important information…

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Studies (only a small selection):

Dweck, C. S. (2002). Messages that motivate: How praise molds students’ beliefs, motivation, and performance (in surprising ways). In Improving academic achievement (pp. 37-60). Academic Press.

Dweck, C. S. (2007). Boosting achievement with messages that motivate. Education Canada, 47(2), 6-10.

Gunderson, E. A., Sorhagen, N. S., Gripshover, S. J., Dweck, C. S., Goldin-Meadow, S., & Levine, S. C. (2018). Parent praise to toddlers predicts fourth grade academic achievement via children’s incremental mindsets. Developmental psychology, 54(3), 397.

Gunderson, E. A., Gripshover, S. J., Romero, C., Dweck, C. S., Goldin‐Meadow, S., & Levine, S. C. (2013). Parent praise to 1‐to 3‐year‐olds predicts children’s motivational frameworks 5 years later. Child development, 84(5), 1526-1541.

Kamins, M. L., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Person versus process praise and criticism: implications for contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental psychology, 35(3), 835.

Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(1), 33.

Even small language variations can have a big impact on the behavior of our fellow human beings. So we should pay close attention to our formulations in communication …

Studies (small sample only):

Cimpian, A., Arce, H. M. C., Markman, E. M., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Subtle linguistic cues affect children’s motivation. Psychological science, 18(4), 314-316.

Fausey, C. M., & Boroditsky, L. (2010). Subtle linguistic cues influence perceived blame and financial liability. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 17(5), 644-650.

Gerber, A. S., Huber, G. A., Biggers, D. R., & Hendry, D. J. (2016). A field experiment shows that subtle linguistic cues might not affect voter behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(26), 7112-7117.

Rhodes, M., Leslie, S. J., Yee, K. M., & Saunders, K. (2018). Subtle Linguistic Cues Increase Girls’ Engagement in Science. Psychological Science, 0956797618823670.

The quick way to higher intelligence?

When children (but also adults) encounter difficulties, they tend to think handicapping thoughts: “I’m so stupid,” “I can’t do it.” All of these negative thoughts consume cognitive capacity.

A study by French researchers shows:

A simple reframing can succeed in leveraging this negative mechanism and freeing up the cognitive capacity so that it is once again available for more important tasks.

Study:

Autin, F., & Croizet, J. C. (2012). Improving working memory efficiency by reframing metacognitive interpretation of task difficulty. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4), 610.

How can you motivate children? Many parents and teachers despair of this question again and again in everyday life. If you take a look at the relevant advice literature, you will rarely find scientifically proven tips. The video therefore presents 5 motivational tips that have proven to be very effective in studies:

1. reframing difficulties (for more frustration tolerance).

2. promotion of a growth mindset

3. praising the effort (instead of the person)

4. question-behavior effect

5. flexible goal setting

Of course, some of these tips are not only useful for motivating children (or students), but can also be used by us to motivate ourselves.

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Studies and books (only a small selection:)

Autin, F., & Croizet, J. C. (2012). Improving working memory efficiency by reframing metacognitive interpretation of task difficulty. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4), 610.

Burck, E. (2020). What to do when children don’t listen: How psychological research helps parents and teachers find the best education (Educational psychology, Classroom management, Educational psychology). Books on Demand.

Miles, L. M., Rodrigues, A. M., Sniehotta, F. F., & French, D. P. (2020). Asking questions changes health-related behavior: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 123, 59-68.

Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(1), 33.

Spangenberg, E. R., Kareklas, I., Devezer, B., & Sprott, D. E. (2016). A meta-analytic synthesis of the question-behavior effect. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 26(3), 441-458.

Wilding, S., Conner, M., Sandberg, T., Prestwich, A., Lawton, R., Wood, C., … & Sheeran, P. (2016). The question-behaviour effect: a theoretical and methodological review and meta-analysis. European Review of Social Psychology, 27(1), 196-230.

Was treibt uns an, immer bessere Leistungen zu erbringen? Ist es eher die Angst vor dem drohenden Misserfolg oder die Aussicht auf Erfolg? Die Theorie der Leistungsmotivation versucht die beteiligten Prozesse zu beschreiben und liefert Ansatzpunkte um ungünstige motivationale Konstellationen zu überwinden.

Keywords: Psychologie – Motivation – Leistungsmotivation – Attributionsmuster – Furcht vor Misserfolg – soziale Bezugsnorm – individuelle Bezugsnorm – sachliche Bezugsnorm

Literatur

J. W. Atkinson: Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. In: Psychological Review. 1957, 64 (6), S. 359–372.

R. F. Baumeister u. a. (Hrsg.): Psychology of Self-Regulation. New York 2004.

Jochen Müsseler (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Psychologie. 2008, S. 250-254.

Heinz Heckhausen, Peter M. Gollwitzer: Thought Contents and Cognitive Functioning in Motivational versus Volitional States of Mind. In: Motivation and Emotion. 11, Nr. 2, 1987, S. 101–120

Heckhausen, J. & Heckhausen, H. (2010). Motivation und Handeln (4. Aufl.). Berlin: Springer.

Was ist Motivation? Wie lässt sich der motivationale Prozess von der Entscheidung (“Das will ich tun!”) bis hin zur tatsächlichen Ausführung einer Handlung beschreiben?

Eines der prominentesten Motivationsmodelle ist das sogenannte Rubikonmodell der Handlungsphasen von Heinz Heckhausen. Es berücksichtigt nicht nur die Rolle der Motivation, sondern auch die Rolle der Volition (Willensprozesse).

Keywords: Psychologie – Motivation – Volition – Handlungskontrolle – Selbstkontrolle – Willensprozesse

Literatur

R. F. Baumeister u. a. (Hrsg.): Psychology of Self-Regulation. New York 2004.

Jochen Müsseler (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Psychologie. 2008, S. 250-254.

Heinz Heckhausen, Peter M. Gollwitzer: Thought Contents and Cognitive Functioning in Motivational versus Volitional States of Mind. In: Motivation and Emotion. 11, Nr. 2, 1987, S. 101–120

Heckhausen, J. & Heckhausen, H. (2010). Motivation und Handeln (4. Aufl.). Berlin: Springer.