Corporal Punishment May Have Long-Term Negative Effects On Children's Intelligence

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110726111109.htm

ScienceDaily (July 26, 2011) — Children in a school that uses corporal punishment performed significantly worse in tasks involving "executive functioning" -- psychological processes such as planning, abstract thinking, and delaying gratification -- than those in a school relying on milder disciplinary measures such as time-outs, according to a new study involving two private schools in a West African country.

The findings, published by the journal Social Development, suggest that a harshly punitive environment may have long-term detrimental effects on children's verbal intelligence and their executive-functioning ability. As a result, children exposed to a harshly punitive environment may be at risk for behavioral problems related to deficits in executive-functioning, the study indicates.

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