Self-control is something we all must deal with from time-to-time. Whether it's not going to that party to stay in and study for a test, or skipping dessert when you're on a diet. Whatever the case maybe, this may all start out from when we are just a child. A portion of the text stated an experiment where they left children in a room with a cookie. They told the children if they could wait 15 minutes they could receive two cookies. Now these kids had to make a choice: wait the 15 minutes and get a better/bigger reward or eat the scrumptious cookie that sits in front of them. What would you do? Reading this remind me of addicts. Many addicts, in recovery, say "the reason I wanted to use is that I wanted the instant gratification." Instant gratification meaning, they wanted it NOW! Reading up on impulse control I found out that people with ADHD are more likely to take the faster and smaller reward. I know I never had been diagnosed with ADHD, but I have always been impulsive myself. I love to live impulsively. The day I turned 16yo I bought a motorcycle with my life savings, not a car. My parents said it was an impulsive buy and I would regret it living in Minnesota. Still have it today, and in the past two years I have put more miles on it then my car. I love that bike. Not all the time, and it may be wrong, but I figure you have more fun eating the first cookie. Thoughts?
Who has a little Self-control?
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I wonder if there's an age where we grow out of impulsive behaviors. Are adults less likely to take the first cookie than kids are? We learned earlier this semester that the decision making part of our brain isn't fully mature until we're around 25. Maybe once your brain is fully mature, you're less likely to act impulsively.
I wonder what the results of the study about cookies were. I have not read the chapter for this week yet but I would find it interesting to see how many people take the cookie, especially across different age ranges. I believe it is a natural part of human nature to always look for the bigger reward, so is this really a conclusive study about self control? But maybe if this is found to be conclusive, there could be a better test involving a more universal reward like involving monetary gain that would give a better picture of self control than with a cookie.
Maybe your decision wasn't' really an impulsive buying. You might have noticed that you really loved or admired riding a motorcycle and might have weighed enough. Still, your opinion about being impulsive is very interesting (maybe because it doesn't sound educational!). I am usually a very careful buyer, but sometimes make an impulsive decision. The most common reaction is remorse, of course. When it comes to cookie things (or marshmallows for anyone who's more familiar with), I used to be the one who waited until the last moment and missed the entire opportunity of eating. So, I might prefer to eat the cookie right NOW rather than to trust someone else to give two cookies later. Too sarcastic?
I always felt I had good self-control in high school, but college is much more challenging! Having unlimited food options in the dining halls coupled with not enough exercise can affect a lot of people, and it took me a little while to get back into a good balance with that. Also, one huge challenge that I face every day is that my xbox sits right next to me on my desk when I'm doing homework. Even though you know that you have to do hours of work, it is such a tempting option that a lot of times forces me to quit my homework early. College really challenges you to maintain good self-control.
Interesting article. For me at least I'd say that I would have a little trouble waiting to receive the extra cookie, I feel like it would be easier to control myself if I am able to preoccupy myself with a different task. If I had to just sit and wait in a room with only a cookie, I would probably eat the cookie right away, but if I could go outside and do something, or at least watch TV it would be easy to wait it out and get the second cookie.
I am very curious what the cookies result was. For instance, what percentage of kids chose to eat the cookie first or wait so they could have 2 cookies. It would also be interesting to see if one tended to be more impulsive depending on one's age (is a 6 year old more likely to wait than a 10 year old? Probably not, but it'd be interesting to see.) I'm sure that as people get older, there are different impulsive decisions one can decide to act on. If given the opportunity (in a controlled environment), a 14 year old would probably be more likely to illegally drive a go-cart versus a 10 year old. I also wonder how big of a role that brain development plays in impulsivity.
I have also read something similar, but rather than cookies the experiment was tested with marshmallows.
Another study I have read found a correlation between those that waited to have a greater impulse control throughout adult hood, and had greater financial investments.
I'm not sure why it didn't imbed the marshmallow video, but here it is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ
Self-control is tough at any age! That's an interesting study about the cookies, and I've also heard of the marshmallow one too (side note: cookies > marshmallows). I think self-control is a function of the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with executive functions. Since our brains are plastic, and using a certain area of the brain more often will improve function, it would make sense that constantly practicing self-control would eventually make it a less difficult issue in one's life because the brain would learn to say "no, not now."
You said that impulsive behavior is related to ADHD. But I think most of us do a lot of impulsive thinking and behavior. I heard that according to an experiments conducted by Dr. Walter Mischell at the university of Stanford, kids who waited 15 minutes for bigger reward are more likely to get a good score in school later and have gooo social relationship with others. So, I realize that self-control influences many part of a person's personality.
It was such a interesting blog and personal example.
Actually, I think that impulsive act might be related to personality. I mean that individual's personality would affect individual's actions. In my case, I rarely do impulsive acts because I think I am kind of timid. It is true that I got a high score on both extroversion and consciousness,but I am still hard to make impulsive act.
If I were you, I definitely would not buy a motorcycle right away with my life savings. It would take more than a week to buy a car or motorcycle and might not use all my savings. However, I think that it would be fine to do impulsive act once in a life for fun :)
I find it interesting that you enjoy being impulsive but you don’t have much reasoning behind it. You’ve come to terms that it isn’t the most beneficial long-term thing. So either you have come to terms with yourself, or you’ve submitted to impulsivity, depending on perspective. How you were writing, it sounds more like a accepting thing rather than a shameful thing.
And in most circumstances, there isn’t always an obvious second choice. The kids knew they could get two cookies. In real life, if we see an immediate, more certain option, we usually go for that because how certain can we be that there will be a better choice later on? Like procrastinating with a game vs. studying. We’re sure that a game will entertain us or be more emotionally stimulating than studying. We’re not sure if we’ll study the right things, if we’ll freak out during the test and forget everything, etc. So maybe entertainment sounds better than the possibility of an amazing grade. Does that make sense?
I think a person's impulsiveness depends on their personality mostly. I'm defintiely the kid who would have taken the cookie instead of waiting the fifteen minutes. And I completely agree with your decision of buying a motorcycle. I bought a new blackberry with my grad party money instead of waiting two more months the get an iphone, so I guess I've got a pretty impulsive personality as well.
Self control in front of food does not work at all for me. I would eat the cookie right away if that's attractive at the moment. But other than food, I'm pretty good at waiting. I don't think my self control skill is low, and I'm sure that my friends would agree with me if i ask. So I don't think self-control depends on the age. It's rather depended on the object, I think.