Time-out (parenting)

A time-out is a form of behavioral modification that involves temporarily separating a person from an environment where an unacceptable behavior has occurred. The goal is to remove that person from an enriched, enjoyable environment, and therefore lead to extinction of the offending behavior. It is an educational and parenting technique recommended by most pediatricians and developmental psychologists as an effective form of discipline. During time-outs, a corner or a similar space is designated, where the person is to sit or stand (hence the common term corner time). This form of discipline is especially popular in Western cultures. In the UK, the punishment is often known as the naughty step or naughty chair. This term became popular in the US thanks to two reality TV series, Supernanny and Nanny 911. The concept of time-out was invented, named, and used by Arthur W. Staats in his extended work with his daughter (and later son), and was part of a long-term program of behavioral analysis beginning in 1958 that treated various aspects of child development. He introduced various elements that later composed foundations for applied behavior analysis and behavior therapy. (The token reward system was another invention by him.) Montrose Wolf, a graduate student assistant of Staats on several studies dealing with reading learning in preschoolers, used that background when he went to the University of Washington where he began his creative program of research. Wolf began the widespread use of Staats' time-out procedure in extending training methods to an autistic child (see the 1964 published study dealing with the behavioral treatment of a child). Staats described the discipline of his two-year-old daughter in 1962: "I would put her in her crib and indicate that she had to stay there until she stopped crying. If we were in a public place [where her behavior was inappropriate], I would pick her up and go outside." For Staats, the timeout period was ended when the child's misbehavior, such as crying inappropriately, ended.