Choice or Chance

This is called lateral thinking, a term first coined by philosopher Edward de Bono, who found this kind of exercise frees our mind of rigidity and helps prepare us for change.12 After we have made our list, we can ask friends or colleagues to join us in this exercise to help generate more choices. Getting input from others often opens our eyes to n

what are we doing in place of the walking, running, and biking that ought to be occupying our time? The answer is disquieting. The time we and our children should be engaged in doing healthy things, we instead are spending in front of some kind of screen—watching television, using a computer, or playing a video game. Recent surveys show we are spen

Theodore Chandler, a professor at Kent State, put parents and children together on two tasks: building block designs and building a rocket. He noted that parents of Internals offered comments that were “suggestions and explanations in contrast to orders or directions and…positive, not negative.”7

comments from mothers of Internals came at the “right” time to reward their children's persistence. Their statements were never given as orders.

Internals are more prone to cope with stress by using cognitive problem-solving skills rather than emotional problem-solving skills. Cognitive problem-solving skills reflect a more active, engaged, and focused approach, rather than the more passive avoidance characterizing emotional problem-solving skills.

there are many more girls and women who are anxious than there are boys and men.

Poor Externals. They have trouble persisting at academic tasks unless outsiders notice and reward them; they seem incapable of looking inside themselves for the encouragement and reinforcement needed to keep working and learning. Externals are susceptible to outside influences, and besides parents, the most important of the outside influences are t

Externality appeared to be the impetus driving socially disadvantaged children into full-blown depression as young adults.

Internality predicted higher academic achievement, while Externality tended to indicate lower academic achievement,