Source: Popular Science China
I remember that when I was a child, I would be spanked by my parents and punished them, and the name was "Give you a little more memory." This simple and crude education method should have been abandoned by parents for a long time, but it did not expect that it has made a comeback on many short video platforms with the wonderful theory that "spanking can improve IQ". So the question is, is spanking really related to improving IQ?
Image source: Visual China
"Spanking improves IQ" is based on experimental basis?
People who hold the theory of "spanking can improve IQ" will often report it: Swiss psychologists found through experiments that a group of students had average academic performance, but their memory increased by 38% after being spanked.
This report provides some details, such as the student said it "pain but worth it" after being interviewed, or if there is a "expert" who put forward theoretical support, it seems serious and you can't help but believe it.
But as long as you analyze it carefully, there are still many flaws in this report. First of all, the research institution mentioned in this news, the Lucerne Institute of Psychological Research (Lucerne Institute of Psychological Research), was fabricated, and there was no psychological researcher to match the "expert" mentioned in the article. Secondly, all relevant reports only put forward simple experimental forms and conclusions, and there is no more detailed experimental design or execution content, and there is no relevant paper, so it can be basically judged that this news was made up.
Furthermore, this "experimental" design is also not rigorous. The article says that a total of 150 students with "mediocre grades" were selected in this experiment. First, the sample capacity of is too small, and it is difficult to get a universal result based on the results of 150 people alone; second, "mediocre grades" is a very vague concept. There may be many reasons for poor grades. It may be that students are not focused, it may be that teachers' teaching methods are not suitable, it may be that students have insufficient time to study, and the later memory improvement may not necessarily be causal and effectual.
Generally speaking, the conclusion that "spanking can improve IQ" is not true.
magic adrenaline and endorphin
Although the experimental results are false, is it possible that the theory is true? People who support "spanking can improve IQ" have a complete explanation: after being spanked, they will secrete a large amount of adrenaline and endorphins. After these two substances are mixed, they will open up the neural pathway that a person has not opened before, which can effectively improve a person's IQ. Is the statement
reliable? First of all, we need to figure out what adrenaline and endorphins are and what are their uses?
Adrenaline, a hormone and nerve transporter, released by adrenaline. After adrenaline is secreted, the body will breathe faster, and the heartbeat and blood flow will also accelerate. In short, adrenaline can make the body excited.
endorphin is a hormone secreted by pituitary gland . It has the effect of reducing pain, regulating body temperature, cardiovascular function and respiratory function. In addition, endorphins are also called "happy hormones" or "young hormones", and the human body feels happy when endorphins are secreted.
After being spanked, the human body is stimulated by external forces and feels threatened. It secretes adrenaline and endorphins to relieve pain, make the body more excited, focus more, and connect the neuron terminals in the brain nerves closer, so that memory may be improved.
However, this memory improvement caused by hormone secretion is short-term and discontinuous. At the same time, "smart" is a big concept. The "IQ" we often say includes multiple dimensions such as numbers, space, logic, vocabulary, memory, etc. It is just to improve memory in a short period of time and cannot be called "becoming smart."
Moreover, if you want to temporarily improve your memory through external stimulation, you don’t have to use methods that hurt yourself. Moderately intense exercise, such as running, swimming, cycling, etc., can also stimulate the body to secrete adrenaline and endorphins.Compared with physical pain, it is safer and more comfortable to rely on exercise. After all, the "long memory" brought by spanking is just a shadow of childhood, and exercise not only brings pleasure, but also gives you a strong body.
Spanking will become "stupid"
Parents have the mood of "hoping their children to become dragons, and their girls to become phoenixes", but they should adopt scientific methods for their children's education. Physical punishment of children cannot make them "become" smart, but will only intensify conflicts and worsen the relationship between parents and children.
An article in "Popular Psychology" in 2021 wrote that a four-year experiment conducted on 1,510 children aged 2 to 9 years old showed that children who have not suffered corporal punishment had an IQ score of 5 to 28 points higher than those who were often beaten.
The United States has also published a 50-year study, UTU researcher Elizabeth Gershoff said: The more you get beaten when you are a child, the more likely you are to have antisocial behaviors and mental illnesses when you are an adult. "Spanking" is not only a physical punishment, but also a mental injury. People who were physically punished when they were young will feel inferior and feel unloved by their parents. This kind of relationship will always affect a person's life.
Moreover, the child is young, his body is still developing, and his skin and internal organs are relatively delicate. Spanking will cause hematoma on the child's buttocks, poor blood circulation, and in severe cases, necrotic inflammation may even occur. At the same time, the child's butt and kidneys are relatively close, and it is likely to damage internal organs when spanking. This kind of damage may be difficult to detect at the beginning, but it is often too late to discover it, causing irreparable harm to the child.
Give up the fantasy of "spanking can make you smarter"!
(Review: Tang Yicheng, Master of Applied Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
