期刊
COGNITION
卷 126, 期 1, 页码 109-114出版社
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.08.004
关键词
Child learning; Decision-making; Rational analysis; Delay of gratification; Marshmallow task
资金
- NEI NIH HHS [P30 EY001319] Funding Source: Medline
- NICHD NIH HHS [R01 HD037082, HD-37082] Funding Source: Medline
- EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT [R01HD037082] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE [P30EY001319] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
Children are notoriously bad at delaying gratification to achieve later, greater rewards (e.g., Piaget, 1970)-and some are worse at waiting than others. Individual differences in the ability-to-wait have been attributed to self-control, in part because of evidence that long-delayers are more successful in later life (e.g., Shoda, Mischel, & Peake, 1990). Here we provide evidence that, in addition to self-control, children's wait-times are modulated by an implicit, rational decision-making process that considers environmental reliability. We tested children (M = 4;6, N = 28) using a classic paradigm-the marshmallow task (Mischel, 1974)-in an environment demonstrated to be either unreliable or reliable. Children in the reliable condition waited significantly longer than those in the unreliable condition (p < 0.0005), suggesting that children's wait-times reflected reasoned beliefs about whether waiting would ultimately pay off. Thus, wait-times on sustained delay-of-gratification tasks (e.g., the marshmallow task) may not only reflect differences in self-control abilities, but also beliefs about the stability of the world. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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