A Cognitive Control Perspective of Self-Control Strength and Its Depletion

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Robinson ◽  
Brandon J. Schmeichel ◽  
Michael Inzlicht

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
Bettina S. Wiese ◽  
Olivia Chaillié ◽  
Ruth Noppeney ◽  
Anna M. Stertz

Abstract. The study investigates how commuting strain affects daily self-control capacities at work and at home. Irritability (i.e., increased readiness to express negative emotions when facing frustration) and concentration (i.e., a cognitive control capacity that relies on attention) were used as indicators of (impaired) self-control. Based on 5-day diary data from N = 185 train commuters, we found that on days with a strenuous ride from home to work, commuters indicated higher irritability and lower concentration capacity at work. On days with higher strain during the work-to-home ride, commuters reported to be more irritable back home. Moreover, commuters with low emotional stability turned out to be more affected by commuting strain but only if considering self-control impairment at home.







2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 487-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Burkley ◽  
Darshon Anderson ◽  
Jessica Curtis


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falk Lieder ◽  
Amitai Shenhav ◽  
Sebastian Musslick ◽  
Tom Griffiths

The human brain has the impressive capacity to adapt how it processes information to high-level goals. While it is known that these cognitive control skills are malleable and can be improved through training, the underlying plasticity mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we develop and evaluate a model of how people learn when to exert cognitive control, which controlled process to use, and how much effort to exert. We derive this model from a general theory according to which the function of cognitive control is to select and configure neural pathways so as to make optimal use of finite time and limited computational resources. The central idea of our Learned Value of Control model is that people use reinforcement learning to predict the value of candidate control signals of different types and intensities based on stimulus features. This model correctly predicts the learning and transfer effects underlying the adaptive control-demanding behavior observed in an experiment on visual attention and four experiments on interference control in Stroop and Flanker paradigms. Moreover, our model explained these findings significantly better than an associative learning model and a Win-Stay Lose-Shift model. Our findings elucidate how learning and experience might shape people’s ability and propensity to adaptively control their minds and behavior. We conclude by predicting under which circumstances these learning mechanisms might lead to self-control failure.



2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Hayden

Self-control refers to the ability to deliberately reject tempting options and instead select ones that produce greater long-term benefits. Although some apparent failures of self-control are, on closer inspection, reward maximizing, at least some self-control failures are clearly disadvantageous and non-strategic. The existence of poor self-control presents an important evolutionary puzzle because there is no obvious reason why good self-control should be more costly than poor self-control. After all, a rock is infinitely patient. I propose that self-control failures result from cases in which well-learned (and thus routinized) decision making strategies yield suboptimal choices. These mappings persist in the decision-makers’ repertoire because they result from learning processes that are adaptive in the broader context, either on the timescale of learning or of evolution. Self-control, then, is a form of cognitive control and the subjective feeling of effort likely reflects the true costs of cognitive control. Poor self-control, in this view, is ultimately a result of bounded optimality.



Konselor ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yola Eka Putri ◽  
Daharnis Daharnis ◽  
Marjohan Marjohan

This study sees a picture of student self-control in using the Internet. The research used is descriptive quantitative. The number of respondents in this study were 230 students. The instrument used was a questionnaire, the data were analyzed descriptively by determining the percentage of achievement using the average score percentage formula. The results of the study describe the overall control of BK UNP students in using the Internet in the high category. From the aspect of self-control it was found that: (1) cognitive control of students in using the internet was in the high category, (2) student behavior control in using the internet was in the moderate category, (3) control of student decisions in using the internet in the high.



2018 ◽  
Vol 374 (1766) ◽  
pp. 20180139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Y. Hayden

Self-control refers to the ability to deliberately reject tempting options and instead select ones that produce greater long-term benefits. Although some apparent failures of self-control are, on closer inspection, reward maximizing, at least some self-control failures are clearly disadvantageous and non-strategic. The existence of poor self-control presents an important evolutionary puzzle because there is no obvious reason why good self-control should be more costly than poor self-control. After all, a rock is infinitely patient. I propose that self-control failures result from cases in which well-learned (and thus routinized) decision-making strategies yield suboptimal choices. These mappings persist in the decision-makers’ repertoire because they result from learning processes that are adaptive in the broader context, either on the timescale of learning or of evolution. Self-control, then, is a form of cognitive control and the subjective feeling of effort likely reflects the true costs of cognitive control. Poor self-control, in this view, is ultimately a result of bounded optimality. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications.



2021 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 101839
Author(s):  
Chris Englert ◽  
Anna Dziuba ◽  
Wanja Wolff ◽  
Louis-solal Giboin


2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-260
Author(s):  
Jeremy R. Gray ◽  
Todd S. Braver

The primrose path and prisoner's dilemma paradigms may require cognitive (executive) control: The active maintenance of context representations in lateral prefrontal cortex to provide top-down support for specific behaviors in the face of short delays or stronger response tendencies. This perspective suggests further tests of whether altruism is a type of self-control, including brain imaging, induced affect, and dual-task studies.



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