Experts know better than conventional wisdom

Bronson shows again and again that experts who pay close attention to children's behavior can tell more than parental intuition or social aspirations about what children's behavior means. Nurtureshock began with Bronson's surprise that science had changed so much in recent years, and that so many commonplace ideas were actually founded on faulty science or the lack of logic. When trying to curb behavior like aggression (with restraint) or poor self-esteem (with praise) or racial inequality (with color-blindness), parents undermine their actual authority by resorting to received rules instead of paying attention to the current science, some of which is somewhat commonsensical (like not spoiling a child with praise).

Bronson offers a number of cases in which following the results of brain science and strict psychological testing have outstanding effects on either test scores, student happiness, classroom behavior, or even rates of car...