Self-Control and Impulsiveness in Preschool Children

The Psychological Record - Eleven girls and nine boys, aged 41–59 months, chose repeatedly, under controlled laboratory conditions, between one sticker available immediately and three...     

The Gendered Expressions of Self-Control: Manifestations of Noncriminal Deviance Among Females

The present study explores the relationships between Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990 Gottfredson , Michael R. and Hirschi , Travis . 1990 . A General Theory of Crime . Stanford , CA : Stanford University Press . [Google Scholar]) concept of low self-control and two forms of deviance more common among females than males, borderline personality characteristics and eating disorders. Ordinary least squares regression models revealed that self-control was significantly associated with both borderline personality characteristics and eating disorder symptoms among a sample of 161 female undergraduates. The findings of the present study highlight the potential utility in expanding our focus of the effects of low self-control beyond traditional analogous behaviors, especially when attempting to understand female behavior.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Adolescent Self-Control of Emotions and Behavioral Expression on Adult Health Outcomes

In the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, we examined the direct and indirect effects of self-control of emotions and behavioral expression, as rated by teachers at age 14, on various self-reported health outcomes at age 36 in 123 women and 129 men. The relation between independent and dependent variables was expected to be mediated by health-related behaviors at age 36 (exercise, tobacco use, heavy drinking). Path analysis showed that, in men, low self-control of emotions was linked to self-assessed poor health and physical symptoms indirectly via health-risk behaviors, but directly to disabilities. Behavioral expression at age 14, indexed by social activity, was directly linked to disabilities. In women, behavioral expression was unrelated to health outcomes, but low self-control of emotions was indirectly linked to self-assessed poor health, physical symptoms, and disabilities via health-risk behaviors.     

Reinforcement Probability and Delay as Determinants of Human Impulsiveness

In behavior theory, “impulsiveness” refers to the choice of an immediate, small reinforcer over a delayed, large reinforcer. Such behavior generally is attributed to a reduction in the value of the large reinforcer as a function of the duration of delay. In contrast, social learning theorists have suggested that human impulsiveness can result from a lowered “expectancy” (subjective probability) of reinforcement. Effects of probability and delay were assessed by asking adults to make repeated choices between reinforcement schedules in which the reinforcers were slides of entertainment figures. An immediate, 5-s reinforcer was consistently chosen over an immediate, 40-s reinforcer if the probability of receiving the large reinforcer had previously been low (.20), implying that impulsiveness can occur without time-based discounting. However, reinforcement delay was also influential: Choice between a certain, small reinforcer and an uncertain, large reinforcer varied according to which reinforcer was immediate and which delayed.

     

Delinquency in Emerging Adult Females: The Importance of Callous-Unemotionality and Impulsivity

Delinquent behavior has consistently been shown to be related to adverse outcomes later in life, ranging from educational difficulties to mental health problems and even premature mortality. Although previous studies have found social, family, and personality factors all contribute to delinquency, the majority of these studies have focused on either male or clinical samples. The current study goes beyond past research by examining how the subscales of callous-unemotional traits and impulsivity relate to emerging adult delinquency in females (N = 155) in a non-clinical population. Undergraduate student participants completed self-report measures of delinquency, impulsivity, and callous-unemotional traits as part of a larger test battery. As expected, general callous-unemotionality and impulsivity were positively correlated with delinquency; however, follow-up analyses revealed that only Callousness and Motor Impulsiveness subscales were significantly correlated with delinquency. All remaining subscale correlations were nonsignificant. A post-hoc backward stepwise regression analysis supported the correlational results, as Callousness and Motor Impulsiveness were the only significant predictors of delinquency. Limitations of the current study and future areas of research are also discussed.     

Differential Effects of Family Structure on Religion and Spirituality of Emerging Adult Males and Females

This study examined measures of religion and spirituality in a sample of male and female emerging adult college students whose parents were either divorced or intact using the Personal Religious Inventory, the Duke University Religion Index, the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, the Spiritual Transcendence Scale, and the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale. Data were collected online, and 66% of participants received extra credit for participating. A main effect of sex was found, as females reported significantly higher scores than men on all but one measure of religion and spirituality, and the dataset was separated by sex. No differences were found between males from divorced and intact families. However, females from intact families scored significantly higher on all religion and spirituality measures than females from divorced families. This study suggests that females may respond differently than males to their parents’ divorce in the context of religion and spirituality, and discusses possible reasons.     

Personality Characteristics Associated With Aerobic Exercise in Adult Females

Using an index of aerobic conditioning 27 adult female joggers and 25 nonexercisers were identified. During individual interviews with each subject basic demographic data were obtained and blood pressure, vital capacity, resting pulse rate, and body fat were meaSured. All subjects completed Form A of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). Statistically significant differences occurred on two primary factors, and one secondary dimension of the 16PF. The probability of three marginally significant differences out of 24 comparisons is well within the range of expected chance fluctuation. Thus, the study provided no evidence that personality characteristics are predisposing factors in the adoption of an aerobic jogging program by young adult females. The only statistically significant training effect was lower pulse rate; blood pressure, vital Capacity, and body fat were similar for the two groups. Finally, the results of this study of females were compared to those of a previous investigation of male joggers.     

Assessment Methods for Eating Behavior,Food Intake and Food Preferences

Abstract

A survey is provided of methods for the assessment of food intake and eating behavior in clinical and research contexts. Five methods of dietary assessment in the epidemiological tradition are presented: dietary history, 24-hour recall, 7-day recall, 7-day record and food-frequency. Behavioral measures of eating behavior, food choice, food preference and hunger are presented and studies of their reliability and validity and other methodological properties are reviewed. Methodological recommendations and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Impulsiveness and risk-taking behavior: comparison of high-school and college students using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale

The present study was undertaken in an attempt to determine the relationship of impulsiveness to risk-taking behaviors such as aggression, drug use, drunk driving and not wearing seatbelts among highschool and college students. The results of the study clearly demonstrate that high impulsives are involved in risk-taking behavior at a higher rate than low impulsive subjects. These findings suggest that high impulsive adolescents and young adults are at considerable risk of personal injury and present a potential source of injury to others. It is suggested that self-report questionnaires of impulsiveness might prove useful in the early identification of these high risk individuals. Once identified these individuals could be targeted for intensive educational interventions specifically designed to deal with their inability to delay gratification and general lack of impulse control.     

Self-Control: Essence and Development

The paper surveys practical knowledge about the act of self-control, particularly how to cultivate it. The discussion is organized around four totally interrelated components: awareness, intervention, sense of self, and sense of will.

     

Impulsiveness and Venturesomness in young motorcyclists

72 male motorcyclists between 17 and 28 years old were assessed for risk taking personality characteristics using the Venturesomness scale of the Impulsiveness Questionnaire. The sample had similar levels of Venturesomness to their peers, and there was no relationship between Venturesomness and measures of accident frequency. This suggests that the popular myth of the reckless motorcyclist may be ill founded, although this conclusion must be tentative due to the lack of validity studies for the Impulsiveness Questionnaire.     

Sex Preferences in Children's Human Figure Drawings

Relevant data as to the sex of the first figure drawn in the DAP were pooled from 19 studies using 5- to 18-year old Ss. 83% of the 4989 boys and 78% of the 4443 girls showed self-sex preference. However, considering age in detail the self-sex proportion of boys significantly exceeds that of girls only from the 11th year on. A significant difference of opposite direction was found with the 7-year olds, but it is impossible so far to determine whether this is an artifact. Results are tentatively explained in terms of the culturally determined learning of sex-role identification.     

Impulsiveness and antisocial behaviour in children

An Impulsiveness inventory was completed by 118 boys and 309 girls from London comprehensive schools. Of these, 101 boys and 306 girls also completed the Eysenck Junior Personality Questionnaire and an Antisocial Behaviour Scale. Intercorrelations of the scores suggest that there is a strong link between antisocial behaviour in children and impulsiveness, as well as psychoticism or toughmindedness, and a weaker link with venturesomeness, extraversion and lack of empathy. Neuroticism was only slightly implicated for girls and hardly at all for boys.     

超重女性对食物信息加工的注意偏向和记忆偏向

采用与食物图片相关的点探测任务和学习—再认范式考察超重女性对不同热量食物信息的注意偏向和记忆偏向。结果发现：(1) 超重女性对高热量食物信息存在注意警觉—注意脱离困难模式,对低热量食物信息仅表现为注意回避模式。(2) 超重组女性对高热量食物信息的再认正确率显著高于正常体重组,而对低热量食物信息的再认成绩组间差异不显著。研究结果证实了超重女性对高热量食物信息投入更多的认知资源,存在注意偏向和记忆偏向。     

The Effects of Low Self-Control and Desire-for-Control on White-Collar Offending: A Replication

To further our understanding of the similarities and differences between street-level and white-collar offending, two personality traits were used to predict offending intentions. The independent and joint roles of low self-control and desire-for-control on intentions to engage in embezzlement, credit card fraud, and shoplifting were assessed. Findings suggested that while low self-control was predictive of intentions to offend, the impact of desire-for-control varied based on the respondent’s level of self-control. In contrast to prior studies, desire-for-control reduced offending intentions, but only among those with high self-control. A discussion of these findings is offered, along with study limitations and future directions.     

The Consequences of False Memories for Food Preferences and Choices

ABSTRACT— False memories, or memories for events that never occurred, have been documented in the real world and in the laboratory. In the real world, false memories involving trauma and abuse have resulted in real-life consequences. In the laboratory, researchers have just begun to study the consequences of false memories. We review this laboratory-based work and show how false memories for food-related experiences (e.g., becoming ill after eating egg salad) can lead to attitudinal and behavioral consequences (e.g., lowered self-reported preference for and decreased consumption of egg salad).     

Impulsiveness and anxiety: Information processing and electroencephalograph topography

Within a general systems model of personality, we are currently studying impulsiveness and other personality traits using multitrait-multimethod multivariate designs. The research involves a wide spectrum of techniques in an effort to find consistent relationships among biological, cognitive, behavioral, and environmental correlates of the personality traits. The goal is to develop unique profiles of personality traits based on these four classes of measurements. Our research has demonstrated that impulsiveness and anxiety are personality traits that have loadings on two orthogonal higher order personality factors that we have labeled action-oriented and mood-feeling. From both an empirical research and a clinical viewpoint, we have identified three subtraits of impulsiveness: cognitive (Ic), motor (Im), and nonplanning (Inp). Inp is hypothesized to relate to frontal lobe brain processes, while Ic and Im are more related to neural mechanisms that (1) control performance on tasks with “timing-and-rhythm” demands and/or (2) are related to seizure disorders. High-impulsive subjects (especially when high on Ic and Im) are less efficient at performing a wide range of psychomotor tasks. We hypothesize that this inefficiency relates to the information-gating properties of the nervous system being out of “synch” with efficient performance of selected tasks. High-impulsive subjects are visual N100 event-related potential augmentors, which would be consistent with this dyssynchrony occurring in the early stages of information processing. We also hypothesize that impulsiveness is related to serotonin (high impulsiveness related to low serotonin levels). Our psychopharmacological-psychophysiological studies of information processing would be consistent with the latter hypothesis.     

Order in Choice: Effects of Serial Position on Preferences

ABSTRACT— When several choice options are sampled one at a time in a sequence and a single choice of the best option is made at the end of the sequence, which location in the sequence is chosen most often? We report a large-scale experiment that assessed tasting preferences in choice sets of two, three, four, or five wines. We found a large primacy effect—the first wine had a large advantage in the end-of-sequence choice. We also found that participants who were knowledgeable about wines showed a recency effect in the longer sequences. We conclude with a process model that explains our findings.