Frederick H. Kanfer

Self-control: A behavioristic excursion into the lion's den

The concept of ‘self-control,” until recently embedded in intrapsychic personality theories and banished from strict behavioral accounts of human activity, is considered from the perspective of a closed-loop learning paradigm. In considering self-regulatory and self-control behavior, an attempt is made (1) to extricate these concepts from the realm of philosophical debate on the image of man, (2) to point to their growing relevance in the context of rapidly changing environments, (3) to provide behavioral definitions and a tentative and testable process model, and (4) to outline their clinical (therapeutic) implications. The current conceptualization emphasizes (a) the contractual elements in self-control, (b) the critical importance of insuring the link between intentions (often of a verbal variety) and behavioral execution, and (c) the interdependence of external and internal controlling variables. In a larger context, the paper seeks to show how mans “selfreflectiveness” can be incorporated within an empirically based behavior theory. Suggestions for research are presented.

Delay of gratification in children: The effects of training under fixed, decreasing and increasing delay of reward ☆

Abstract The effect of fixed, gradually decreasing, or increasing delay of reward in discimination learning on later delay of gratification was investigated. In discrimination training, employing a correction procedure, a candy reward was delivered either after 0, 10, 20, 40 or 60 sec fixed delay; or after 60 sec in the first block of trials and decreased in successive block; or reward was immediate in the first block of trials and delay was gradually increased to 60 sec. In the delay of gratification tests, subjects could press a button immediately to receive a small reward (one candy or a cheap toy) or delay pressing and receive an increasingly larger reward (more candy or a better toy). Learning was not significantly affected by either fixed or decreasing delays. Increasing delays resulted in faster learning than decreasing delays. The increasing delay group demonstrated superior delay of gratification on both tests. Fixed delay groups did not differ significantly among themselves, nor from the decreasing delay group. The effectiveness of exposure to increasing delays in facilitating delay of gratification was interpreted as due to either the acquisition of coping responses or the extinction of frustration.

Academic Rank, Task Feedback and Self-Reinforcement in Children:

This experiment explored the non-intellectual correlates of academic achievement from the perspective of research on self-regulation. Part I studied the relationship of class standing (in third and fourth grade boys) and self-reinforcement patterns. Ss evaluated their guesses on a perceptual task as Very Good or Bad. Boys of high class-standing were significantly more self-critical than boys of low class-standing. Part II explored the effects of positive, negative and no feedback on the same Ss. High Ss decreased more rapidly in self-criticism from Part I than Low Ss. Different feedbacks had no different effects on SR rates, but Low Ss tended to show more absolute change after feedback.