I used to minor in pediatric neurology in college.  I took three years of
it in one of only nine clinical universities in the country at the time.
I don't tell you this to impress you.  Hell, I dropped out upon getting
pregnant.  I tell you this to give you an idea of where I am basing my
opinion on in regards to this subject.  I know that the first part of
this post is about human children.  But that is directly related to
animals as well.
 
Neurological development is much more immature and simplistic in children
than you might think.  There are still "bits and pieces" developing in
teens in fact (making the debate about whether to hold them completely
accountable for crimes or not a delicate subject).  The human toddler
does not have the capacity to put himself in another's place.  In fact,
it takes years for that part of the brain to develop and then for the
neurons to hardwire in order for the human to obtain that skill.  When
you say to a preschooler, "Stop, mommy is tired", this means nothing to
the child.  And no matter how you explain it, or how you show them, they
cannot, cannot imagine it or feel for you.  It is the same with biting.
 
Given that I had a double major in biology and psychology, I assure you,
I read every book in child rearing over the years prior to giving birth
to my sons.  Tossing a bunch of verbage onto a child is not only done in
vain, but it is very stressful to the child!  You are putting a whole lot
of guilt, frustration, and even fear into the child who has absolutely no
way of processing what you said on the level that would lead to your goal
of getting them to stop a bad behavior.  I'm not saying that spanking is
right or wrong.  I"m saying that the only way to bypass the gap from the
hearing the words "biting hurts", to the true understanding of "biting
hurts" is to show them hands on.  "Pick up your toys", is better done by
physically getting your hands on them and making them pick them up with
each hand, then to stand there and lecture them for an hour.  Nothing
worked for Chet in regards to biting when he was barely three years old.
He almost drew blood on a four week old Sean when I had turned my back
to get a drink of water.  In desperation, I fell back onto the old way
of teaching by biting his hand while telling him it hurts.  He NEVER
bit anyone again.  Ever, ever, ever.  And I did try spanking, I surely
did.  As well as the psychobabble some experts lead you to believe will
work.  The only thing that worked was the biting.
 
It's been too many years to remember specifics of various mammal brains.
But they prove to be wonderful models to varying stages of the human
brain.  From what I know of neurology (which isn't much anymore, but I
do have a basic understanding of it), to indirectly make an animal
understand that a behavior is wrong with negative reinforcement is not
always successful.  Sometimes a hands on, direct approach is needed and
far more successful in the long run.
 
Remember too that we would not progress in society and in science if
people didn't explore creative options and think out of the box.  We'd
still be hammering rocks like our ancestors if nobody ever took chances.
 
Wolfy
[Posted in FML issue 5349]