THE BRAIN:Grow that

self-control!

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Courtesy of Dr. Paul Dougherty, Stanford Institute for Reading & Learning

Adolescents: New cognitive - emotional connectionsEmotion intertwines with the

highest levels of human endeavor…if controlled!

The MarshmallowExperiment—Dr. Walter Mischcel, Stanford University1960’s

• 1/3 ate the marshmallow in seconds (low delayers)

• 1/3 held off for 15 minutes (high delayers)

Tested 4-year olds: Who delayed personal gratification? What were the long-term affects?

The New Yorker, May 24, 2010

Frontal Lobes Reasoning that tempers emotions (last brain area to mature)

AmygdalaEmotions (1st area to mature)

Tips for Reaching Goals: 1) Distract yourself – focus on something other

than the temptation

2) Anticipate temptation & have plan to address – develop Trigger Strategies!

3) Meta-cognition: “Think about your thinking”

Meta-cognition: “Think about your thinking.”

Distraction— When children pretended marshmallows were surrounded by a frame, they delayed gratification from 1 minute to 15 minutes.

Study of teens: Relationship between self-control and grades— 8th graders could choose between receiving 1 dollar now or 2 dollars in a week. Delaying behavior was a better predictor of academic performance than I.Q. This means that self-control is more important than intelligence for getting good grades.