Self-Control Concepts

Self-Control

• Self-control refers to the tendency to act in one’s own best interests and make wise choices.

Key Concepts of Self-Control

• Traditional: Willpower

• Skinner: Conflicting outcomes

• Ainslie-Rachlin model: the choice between immediate and delayed outcomes.

Skinner's Perspective on Self-Control

• Skinner identified problems with self-control relating to conflicting outcomes:

  • Behaviors can have both positive and negative consequences (e.g., drinking provides relaxation but causes a hangover).

• SC: engaging in responses that alter your behavior

  • A person’s behavior can alter the environment

  • This is a controlling response and makes self control easier

  • Example: Opting not to purchase chocolate if it disrupts health goals.

Controlling Responses (Skinner, 1953)

• Various mechanisms to improve self-control include:

  • Physical Restraint: Limiting access to tempting items.

  • Stimulus Control: Managing environmental cues that lead to unwanted behaviors.

  • Deprivation and Satiation: Controlling access to rewards or behaviors based on personal goals.

  • Distraction: Engaging in alternative activities to mitigate temptation.

  • Self-Reinforcement/Punishment: Rewarding oneself for good behavior or imposing penalties for poor behavior.

  • Informing Others of Goals: Increases accountability.

  • Monitoring Behavior: Keeping track of actions related to self-control.

Ainslie & Rachlin's View on Self-Control

• Self-control as a temporal issue:

  • More heavily influenced by immediate consequences as opposed to delayed consequences.

Temporal Issue of Reward

• Smaller, sooner reward vs larger, later punisher (e.g., quick gratification vs. long-term benefits).

  • Examples:

  • Paying a fine now and be broke for a few days vs pay fine late plus a late fee

Graph: Reward Value Over Time

• The graph illustrates the relationship between reward value and delay:

  • As time progresses and rewards draw nearer, their perceived value increases.

  • Initially, the increase in value is slow, but it sharpens significantly as the reward becomes imminent.

  • Hyperbolic function: When a reward is distant, its value changes slowly; as it approaches, the value escalates sharply.

  • The maximum value occurs when the reward is delivered, highlighting that preferences for rewards can shift based on proximity.

Implications of Reward Preferences

• Preference for different rewards changes based on their time distance:

  • Early commitment to outcomes is less impulsive than deferring decisions.

  • Preference for a smaller sooner reward vs. a larger later reward can influence self-control outcomes.

  • Hyperbolic Decay Model: Predicts preference reversal and offers solutions to self-control difficulties, emphasizing that early commitment aids better decision-making.