14 DAY TRIAL // A new research found that young children tend to take decisions for the next days and even for the distant future depending on how they feel in the moment of the decision. The study was conducted by Canadian researchers on 48 children with ages ranging between 3 and 5. Children were randomly divided into several groups and then asked to take simple actions such as eating a pretzel or drinking water.
More exactly, children in two of the groups were given pretzels and were told to eat as many as they wanted throughout a 12 minute period. Then, children in the former group were asked if they wanted to eat pretzels or drink water next. Most of them opted out for water. On the other hand, children in the latter group were also asked if they would like to have pretzels or water, but the next day, not immediately. Most of the children in the latter group chose water.
This helped the experts conducting the study to realize that children often take decisions depending on the moment, not thinking about future needs. Taking into account the fact that kids in the latter group were thirsty after eating pretzels, they opted out for water the next day. But they failed to become aware of the fact that they may be also hungry the next day.
Another group of children received nor pretzels, nor water, but were simply asked what would they prefer to have of the two. Most of them chose pretzels.
Conclusions of the study were that children are tempted most of the times to take decisions depending on what they feel in the moment of the decision. They cannot predict what would happen in a few hours or days time. For example, if the mother asks her offspring to take an action that would be necessary for him in the near future, the child often fails to understand why his mother wants him to do it as long as he does not feel like it and does not need it in that specific instance.
"For instance, we often see children object when mom asks them to put on their coat in a warm house before going outside into the cold, or when she tells them to bring water to the park when they are not yet hot and thirsty. Although we may think the child is simply being disobedient, it may be that they don't understand that they might be cold or thirsty later," explains Cristina Atance, lead researcher of the study and Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Ottawa.
Therefore, parents should not interpret their children's misbehavior as a proof of disobedience. They should simply understand that their offsprings cannot think and plan for the future, only for the present.