I don't like nudge-style policies that try to shape my behaviour.
Neither does my two year old.
First attempt at toilet training: a reward for successful task completion. A stamp or sticker. Stopped working after two successes.
Second attempt: carrots and sticks. A messy filled diaper put a toy in toy jail, but a successful task completion would get a toy out of toy jail (or a treat if no toys in jail). Worked twice. Then he decided it was fun to put toys in toy jail.
Rewards for inputs rather than outputs (time attempting task rather than achievement) predictably led to lots of time on inputs with no output, followed by messy diaper ten minutes later because he just prefers producing it there. Moral suasion has been useless. High salience rewards and punishments are illegal and probably inadvisable anyway. And who makes a Taser that's safe for toddlers anyway?
I think it's time to start rewarding him for producing messy diapers. Or just follow Gans's lead and leave it to the experts.
