Which is most characteristic of the physical punishment of children, such as spanking?

A) Psychological impact is usually minimal.
B) Children rarely become accustomed to spanking.
C) Children's development of reasoning increases.
D) Misbehavior is likely to occur when parents are not present.

Through the use of physical punishment, children learn what they should not do. When parents are not around, it is more likely that children will misbehave because they have not learned to behave well for their own sake, but rather out of fear of punishment. Spanking can cause severe physical and psychological injury and interfere with effective parent-child interaction. Children do become accustomed to spanking, requiring more severe corporal punishment each time. The use of corporal punishment may interfere with the child's development of moral reasoning.