According to recent findings, praise can have a positive impact on improving a child's academic performance.

"It is also just an orientation towards being positive towards your kids," according to Professor Philip Parker, one of the authors of the study that looked at the impact of positive reinforcement on a child's success and confidence.

"We now know, for instance, that teachers' expectations of kids, the kids will live up to them. And it's the same with parents. So, if you expect your kid to do poorly, they end up doing poorly. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Professor Parker is the deputy director of the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian Catholic University.

Want to know more? You can listen to an ABC Life Matters podcast here: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/good-job-mate:-how-to-praise-your-child-towards-success/13428556