News

Big Think: Kids today are lacking these psychological nutrients

December 2, 2020 by Lemos Kelly

April 30 2020 // by Nir Eyal Big Think on the key to raising indistractable kids is to first determine why they're distracted.

The Atlantic: How Kids Learn Resilience

June 10, 2016 by Shannon

Self-Determination Theory acknowledged by The Atlantic as an important perspective in education. Interesting article on children’s resilience and motivation in the classroom around socio-economic factors.

New Book Release: ‘Goal Setting and Motivation in Therapy: Engaging Children and Parents’

October 12, 2015 by Steph Green

The anticipated new book ‘Goal Setting and Motivation in Therapy: Engaging Children and Parents’ by editors Jenny Ziviani, Anne Poulsen & Monica Cuskelly has just been released! Including a foreword by Richard Ryan, the book highlights the importance of goal-setting and goal pursuit in children’s therapy, rendering it a vital motivational component. It involves principal...

NY Times: The Accumulated Wisdom on Bribing Your Children

October 3, 2013 by Shannon

Ed Deci quoted in article about bribing children... 'Edward Deci, a psychology professor at the University of Rochester who falls firmly in the don’t-bribe camp, was not particularly fond of this idea. “Are you going to follow them around for the rest of their lives and pay them for learning every time there is learning to be done?” he said. “Presumably not. So the question is, what happens if they’ve been rewarded and then the rewards stop?”'

Press Release: New book by University of Queensland faculty

February 28, 2013 by Shannon

February 28th 2013. A new book written by researchers from The University of Queensland and Queensland Health offers a unique guide for therapists and professionals to successfully work with children. The Art and Science of Motivation: A therapist’s guide to working with children, to be launched on March 4, uses Self Determination Theory (SDT)...

Slate Magazine: Experts Say Not to Bribe Kids. I’ll Give you $10 and Stale Candy if You Prove Them Wrong

January 15, 2013 by Shannon

January 15th 2013. “Dr. Deci, now a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, said the biggest problem with tangible rewards is that they actually work, at least in the short run. “If you want somebody to do something, and if you have enough money, you can get them do it,” he said....

The Straits’ Sunday Times (Singapore): Richard Ryan comments on “Should You Reward Your Child for A Grades?”

April 1, 2012 by Shannon

April 1st 2012. Say you are a parent trying to get your son to aim for all A*s in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). To get him to work hard, you promise him a reward – a trip to Disneyland or the sleek, new iPad, $150 for every A*. Sounds like a sure-win strategy,...

CBS MoneyWatch: Kids and Money: 5 Ways to Instill Good Habits

May 12, 2011 by Shannon

May 12th 2011. Try it. You’ll like it. It’s a lie that parents tell their kids all the time, and it’s usually about food. But now there is evidence that even if kids don’t like, say, an icky vegetable, if you can get them to keep sampling the food eventually they will grow to enjoy...