This title obviously has nothing to do with the motto rapper Drake has recently made famous, but it probably got your attention. My play on this motto has to do with a section in our book on page 391 dealing with learning the inhibition of impulses, also known as self-control. Some of us learned this at a very early age, while some of us still need some help with the concept. One researcher, Walter Mischel, has done studies with kids to test what he called "delay of gratification." He and his colleagues would leave a child alone with a cookie and a bell. They would explain that if the child could wait long enough, they would get a bigger reward such as two cookies instead of one. If they could not wait long enough, they could ring the bell and receive the cookie, or simply munch on the cookie and deal with consequences. What Mischel and his colleagues predicted was that if children could wait for the larger reward at the age of four, they could more easily handle frustration later in life. While Mischel's finding's don't necessarily prove that self-control at an early age means coping with frustration later in life is easier, it does serve as an early indicator of the capacity to restrain impulses which is rooted in frontal lobe function. In conclusion, if you were one of the kids who took the cookie right away and didn't display self-control as a four year old, don't worry. There's still hope for you learning some self-control soon enough.
YOLO: You only learn once
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I thought this was an interesting post. I think the study is interesting but not very formal. I think there are variables that could alter results such as if the kid is starving they will probably eat the cookie right away and if they have already had some cookies they might not be in a hurry to have more. However, I am sure that no matter what there will always be some kids that either eat it right away or wait for two. I thought it was good that you said that Mischel's findings don't necessarily prove self-control at an early age means coping with frustration later in life is easier. Good post.
I participated in a study like this here at the UofM, but with M&Ms instead of cookies. Let's just say, according to these psychologists, I presumably don't deal with stress & problems very well :D
The capacity to restrain appears to be lean more on the nature side of the spectrum rather than the nurture side. Those labeled with having a "short-fuse" usually come from parents with the same characteristic, but of course this could come from observing the behavior. Good post.
It would be interesting to compare a child who was "spoiled" and got whatever he/she wanted on command to a child who had to wait and be patient for awards. I wonder if either forms of nurturing result in different outcomes or if we're genetically predisposed to our level of impulse. It raises great questions about effective discipline for parents.
Very interesting, and you're right, I did gravitate to your post because of the "YOLO" title. Impulse decisions and self control is a an interesting topic, and is something I wonder is due to in part by nature or nurture, as well as in studies like like these. It would be interesting to have a control in this experiment to test these other likely outcomes.
I think this topic is very interesting and a good example of the principle correlation vs. causation as well. Also, I love your title, very creative!
First of all, you were right. You're title got me, and apparently a lot of other people, too!
Anyhow, back to the post. I'd definitely heard about a similar study before I read about this one in the book, but in the version I know the reward was a marshmallow instead of a cookie. It's really interesting to see how our tendencies as children can affect, but do not necessarily determine, our future abilities to restrain impulses. It's compelling to imagine what kind of children we would have been... I feel like I definitely would have waited for more cookies!
That is very interesting that there may be a correlation between such a test at a young age and what future self control may be in adult life. The YOLO play on words was a very good attention getter and definitely had me laugh at the "You Only Learn Once." What were the final results of the experiment and did Mischel later test his subjects after they grew up? Honestly I am not sure if I would be able to restrain myself from a nice chocolate chip cookie right about now.
This is an interesting post, and to hear that this study does not always prove that you will be better or worse at coping with stress in the future depending on if you want a cookie sooner or later when you are four is also good to hear. lol interesting study but it didn't sound too promising to begin with, it's more just about the kids wanting their cookie. haha