Michelle did a famous cotton candy experiment for preschool children in 1960s, which revealed that some children had strong self-control and could resist the temptation and eat cotton candy immediately. They delayed their satisfaction and just waited for a short time until the researcher returned to the room and they got two marshmallows. The others couldn't wait. Although they knew that they would get two marshmallows in a few minutes, they immediately ate the marshmallows in front of them.
Self-control in early childhood indicates self-control in adulthood.
The researchers conducted a follow-up study after these children grew up. The results show that the difference in self-control ability between the two groups of children has not changed at all over the years. After analyzing these adults aged 27 to 32, the researchers found that those who had the strongest ability to delay gratification in the past and those who were able to wait for greater rewards performed better in the college entrance examination and used less dangerous drugs. These people are highly educated and have a much lower obesity index. In addition, compared with their peers with weak self-control, these people are also better at dealing with interpersonal problems and maintaining intimate relationships.
For most of these children, a simple marshmallow experiment in early childhood accurately predicted whether they could effectively control themselves in many important events in their lives. So, what makes some children wait longer to get bigger rewards, while others can't?
The Brain Foundation of Self-control
According to Michel's theory, in any case, adequate self-control depends on the brain management system, that is, the full development of the executive function of the brain. In his book, he pointed out that children with mature executive function in early childhood can not only resist the temptation of grabbing marshmallows in front of them, but also restrain their other impulses, firmly remember the teachings of their elders and concentrate on their homework. He also mentioned: "Children who do not have mature executive function in early childhood also have a higher risk of ADHD and face various learning and emotional problems after school."
Self-control, Executive Function and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Michelle's description of children who lack mature executive function compared with their peers coincides with the recent research results on ADHD. In the past, people simply understood ADHD as a disease that only boys who had long-term behavior problems and were unwilling to listen to their elders would get. Based on the research results in recent years, researchers redefine it as a kind of brain self-management system, that is, the developmental injury of brain executive function.
Now most experts believe that ADHD is equivalent to a series of cognitive disorders. The disease affects both men and women and usually lasts into adulthood or life, although there are exceptions. Children and adults with ADHD will show the following typical symptoms, including inability to concentrate, difficulty in organizing work, easy to give up halfway, poor memory, and inability to restrain excessive impulsive behavior. Usually, these problems have genetic factors and are related to the differences and delays in brain development and operation.
Michelle's subjects underwent brain scans in middle age. The difference of brain function in people with poor self-control is similar to that in children and adults with ADHD. Those children who can't wait for the second marshmallow prize show weak self-control in later life, and they also show genetic obstacles similar to most ADHD patients in brain executive function. Maybe those children who can wait longer are genetically lucky.
The key factor to resist temptation: motivation
In addition, Michelle clearly knows that even those who have super high IQ and executive function skills often show poor self-control. These techniques that are effective in one situation may not be effective in all other situations. In his new book, he explains this point: "Delayed gratification can really help preschool children resist the temptation of one marshmallow and get two marshmallows, but only if they want to be rewarded later."
This passage emphasizes that children's ability to resist instant gratification in order to get rewards depends on "the intensity of desire", giving the impression that the difference between the two groups of children is that those who wait longer just want rewards more than others. But Michelle's interpretation is more profound. What he wants to emphasize is that the application of willpower is a skill, which depends on the complexity of motivation.
Michelle believes that willpower is essentially a skill, not an internal force that makes people always make the best choice: "Like all skills, we will only implement this self-control skill when we are motivated. This skill is stable, but if the motivation changes, then the behavior will also change. " He explained that an individual's ability to resist temptation depends on his understanding of the situation at that particular point in time and the possible results of obeying or resisting temptation. He stressed: "Our motives, goals and temptations are particularly important factors." . This problem that Michelle noticed is considered to be the key to understanding ADHD.
Motivation depends on the specific situation.
The most puzzling thing about ADHD is that it depends entirely on the situation. In fact, children and adults with ADHD can concentrate for a long time at least in some specific activities, remember several different things at the same time, persist in overcoming challenging tasks and control their impulsive behavior. But patients can't show these skills when facing many other tasks that they think are important.
Both clinical reports and empirical experiments show that ADHD patients show strong self-control ability in specific situations when dealing with specific tasks, although they cannot use these skills in other situations. For some people, these abilities will be shown when they participate in their favorite sports activities or play video games. For others, this excellent executive function can only be brought into play when they are engaged in artistic creation, playing music or doing some mechanical work.
For ADHD patients, most tasks and activities usually seriously affect the exertion of self-control ability, unless they are tasks that patients are particularly interested in. It is difficult for patients to mobilize their executive function when facing other tasks and activities. Inspired by what a patient once said to me, I found the characteristics of ADHD-"You can concentrate on this and work hard for it, but you can't do anything else". This passage is like this:
Suffering from ADHD feels like "erectile dysfunction" in the brain. Only when what you are trying to do is really interesting and exciting for you will you get an erection. On the contrary, if you are faced with a task that you are not interested in, you can't get an erection. In this case, no matter how many times you say to yourself "I need it, I should, I should do it", you won't feel happy, just because ADHD is uncontrollable.
The ability to resist the temptation to get attractive rewards immediately in order to wait for and strive for greater rewards depends on whether the task arouses people's interest at that time and space. This is an ability with a long-term vision, an ability to restrain impulsive behavior and measure the potential benefits of expected returns. Motivation is the decisive factor of this ability.