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  3. Ah, praise. So powerful are simple words of approval and admiration that the late psychologist B. F. Skinner once called praise

Ah, praise. So powerful are simple words of approval and admiration that the late psychologist B. F. Skinner once called praise

admin2014-01-07  27
问题     Ah, praise. So powerful are simple words of approval and admiration that the late psychologist B. F. Skinner once called praise giving "the greatest tool in behavior modification".
    Yet precisely because praise is such heady stuff, motivation researchers warn of its psychological perils. Although the researchers agree that encouragement is essential for everyone, studies have found that poorly chosen words of praise can be as manipulative as any other reward—and just as destructive to creativity, perseverance and performance. Even behaviorists who advocate heavy use of praise for positive reinforcement in the classroom warn that its power can easily be missed.
    Such condemnation of simple good words is difficult even for those who can clearly see the destructive potential of gold stars and other glittery enticements. But in fact, Kohn argues, praise should not always be considered a synonym for human kindness. Children, he argues, can become Completely dependent on praise and in that emotional process lose any love of doing things for their own sake. Experiments show, for example, that children who are praised for being generous with others actually end up being less generous than those who received no strokes.
    Praise has also been shown to have very disruptive effects on confidence, concentration and performance. People who receive praise often become so self-conscious of their temporary good standing that they cannot focus on the task at hand, or alternatively they simply avoid challenging themselves in order to prevent the possibility of failure. Case Western Reserve University researcher Roy F. Baumeister found that compliments are an effective way to increase pressure, making a person more likely to "choke". Subjects who were praised just before a test of video skills consistently performed worse than did those who were not. And students who were heavily praised became more unconfirmed in their answers and gave up more quickly on ideas teachers disagreed with. "I worry about children whose eyes light up every time they are praised," says Kohn. "Many of them will grow to be adults desperate for others’ approval, unable to formulate their own standards."
    Although words of praise may be more subtle than other rewards, the basic psychological issue is one of power and manipulation. "Often, the most striking thing about a positive judgment is that it’s a judgment," says Kohn. "It implies, ’I have power over you.’" What’s more, he adds, praise carries with it the possibility of criticism, which can make the loftiest praise threatening: today’s "you’re perfect" can become tomorrow’s "you are worthless".
According to B.F. Skinner, praise
选项 A、is most useful in behavior correction.
B、is simple but powerful words of good will.
C、can change people’s behaviors to be better.
D、may both be beneficial and disadvantageous.
答案C
解析 第1段段末双引号里的内容就是B．F．Skinner的观点，其中modification与change同义，而结合下一段第1句的转折关系可以推断第1段的modification是指“变(得更好)”，因此本题应选C。A看起来也是第1段段末双引号里的内容的同义改写，但要注意的是，correction与modification并非同义词，correc-tion是指“改正错误”，而modification只是“改变”的意思，不光指“改正”，因此A不正确；B是抽取第1段第2句开头的词语组成的，但这一部分内容并非B．F．Skinner的观点，所以也不能选。
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