Tag Archives: self-control

Marshmallows and Beyond: Cultural Influences on Self-Regulation

Few psychology studies have created a bigger stir than Walter Mishel’s research into marshmallows. Okay, he was really doing research into self-control. But the marshmallow images were adorable: all those cute children desperately trying not to eat one marshmallow right



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How Does Self-Control Really Work? Introducing a Debate

You’d like to know how researchers think about self-control, but don’t know where to begin? Begin here… Continue reading



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How Best to Achieve our New Year’s Resolutions

Psychology research can help us accomplish our New Year’s resolutions, even if we’re offered tempting cake. Continue reading



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Powerful Evidence: Self-Control Training Works — and Changes Brains

Both survey data and fMRI neuroimaging suggest that a program to help poor children develop self-control skills had real benefits over many years. Continue reading



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Can We Boost Our Students’ Self-Control?

You have, no doubt, heard about this research before. Walter Mischel tested preschoolers on self-control. In the famous “marshmallow test,” they got either one marshmallow right now, or two if they waited for fifteen minutes. (I have to include an



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Healthy Snacks After Exercise? Depends on the Timing…

We’re likelier to make good snack choices before we exercise than after. This research finding gives us practical advice, and supports a well-known (but recently controversial) theory of self-control. Continue reading



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self-control paradox

The Self-Control Paradox: Resistance is (Often) Futile

The “self-control paradox” leads to a surprise. We shouldn’t help students resist temptation. Instead, we want them to avoid temptation in the first place. Continue reading



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Adolescent self-control

Adolescents and Self-Control: Do Teens Recognize High Stakes?

Why is adolescent self-control so difficult? Recent research suggests that teens don’t consistently recognize the difference between high-stakes and low-stakes situations. And: the brain networks that help them do so don’t mature until we turn 19 or 20. Continue reading



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Bilingual Preschoolers and Self-Control

If you can speak two or more languages, you’re likely to have some real advantages in life. For starters, you can talk easily with lots more people, and turn off the subtitles on more movies. Are there cognitive benefits to



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School, Self-Regulation, and the Brain

The Study A just-published study asks about the effect of schooling on the brain. (A chatty, readable summary by one of the authors can be found here.) More specifically, it looks at a young child’s ability to self-regulate: a skill



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