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Tarullo, Obradovic, Gunnar (2009, 0-3) Self-Control and The Developing Brain
Tarullo, Obradovic, Gunnar (2009, 0-3) Self-Control and The Developing Brain
4-year-old sits at a table with one piece of candy in front of Self-Control in the Brain
A him. He is told that if he does not touch the candy, he can have
not one but two pieces of candy in a few minutes. Will he be
able to control his impulse to reach for the candy and wait for
the larger reward instead? Self-control is critical to success at
home, at school, and with friends. A child with good self-
control can refrain from hitting another child when there is
a conflict, pay attention to the teacher’s lecture instead of talking over it, and
wait his turn when playing a game. Self-control in young children predicts school
readiness, academic achievement, social
competence, and appropriate conduct
(Eisenberg, Hofer, & Vaughan, 2007;
Barresi, & Moore, 1997). Self-control skills
continue to develop throughout childhood
and adolescence. The brain regions involved
B rain development is not exclu-
sively due to the passage of time, as
if the brain had an internal clock and
was changing and growing automatically on
a certain schedule. Although the brain does
change with age, the child’s experiences play
an active role in shaping the brain as it devel-
ops and in building connections between dif-
ferent parts of the brain. Several brain regions
support the skills relevant to self-control. For
effective self-control, these regions all need
to be interconnected and must communicate
W. Mischel, Shoda, & Peake, 1988). Deficits in self-control are immature at birth and with each other. The child’s behavior is deter-
in self-control are defining features of atten- are not fully mature until the end of mined by a system of checks and balances
tion and behavior disorders, including adolescence, which helps to explain why between different parts of the brain working
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder developing self-control is such a long, slow together.
(ADHD) and conduct disorder (Barkley, process. An important region for self-control is the
1997; White et al., 1994). When self-control Even though self-control increases with prefrontal cortex, located just behind the
deficits persist into adulthood, they are asso- age, there are marked differences among
ciated with interpersonal problems, poor children of the same age. Although one
physical health, and psychiatric disorders 4-year-old might wait patiently for the candy
(Strayhorn, 2002). Thus, the development of reward, another 4-year-old might grab the Abstract
self-control has implications for many child candy immediately. This impulsive child is Self-control is a skill that children need
outcomes. also likely to strike out at peers when frus- to succeed academically, socially, and
As every parent and early childhood trated and to have trouble paying attention emotionally. Brain regions essential to
educator can attest, self-control takes a at school. In consistent environments, these self-control are immature at birth and
long time to develop. Infants have a few individual differences are fairly stable— develop slowly throughout childhood.
basic self-control strategies; for example, toddlers and preschoolers who have From ages 3 to 6 years, as these brain
by about 3 months of age they can look away difficulty with self-control compared with regions become more mature, chil-
from a social interaction when they need a their peers are likely to continue to have dren show improved ability to control
break to avoid becoming overstimulated or poor self-control as school-age children impulses, shift their attention flexibly,
distressed (Harman, Rothbart, & Posner, (Cummings, Iannotti, & Zahn-Waxler, 1989; and wait for a reward. Early childhood
1997). For the most part, though, from birth Kochanska, Murray, Jacques, Koenig, & environment helps to shape self-control
to 3 years, children rely heavily on parents and Vandegeest, 1996). A brain-based approach pathways in the developing brain. Chil-
caregivers to help them control their emo- to studying self-control can shed light on the dren who experience early adversity
tions and behavior. Three to 6 years marks environmental and genetic contributions are at risk for self-control problems.
a renaissance period in the development of to individual differences, suggest why chil- Preschool curricula and specialized
self-control, including the abilities to control dren with certain environmental risk factors training programs to promote the
impulses, shift attention from one thing to are more likely to develop self-control prob- development of self-control offer
another, and wait for a reward (Diamond lems, and guide the development of train- promise as an intervention for at-risk
& Taylor, 1996; Lewis & Todd, 2007; ing programs designed to target brain regions children.
H. N. Mischel & Mischel, 1983; Thompson, involved in self-control.
W
rules, reasoning, suppressing impulses, and example, 3-year-olds will advise an experi- hy do some children have better
making decisions (Casey et al., 1997). Neuro- menter that it would be in the experimenter’s self-control than other children
imaging studies show that the prefrontal best interest to wait for a larger candy reward. of the same age? The environment
cortex develops gradually from infancy However, when the 3-year-olds are presented where the child grows up, temperament, and
through adolescence (Gogtay et al., 2004). with the candy, the emotional impulse wins, genes all influence the development of
The orbitofrontal cortex is located just behind and they grab the candy right away. Clearly self-control. These various factors do not
the eyes and also is involved in decision they know logically that it is better to wait, operate in a vacuum but interact with each
making, especially when the decision involves but just knowing this isn’t enough (Prencipe other to contribute to individual differences in
reward, as in the example of waiting for candy & Zelazo, 2005). One brain region that plays self-control.
(Zelazo, Carlson, & Kesek, 2008; see Figure 1, a critical role in balancing out logical thought
and see Glossary box). and emotional impulses is the anterior cingu- Family and Culture
For young children, one of the hardest late (see Glossary box). The anterior cingulate Although infants and toddlers do not have
aspects of self-control is resisting an is sandwiched between the prefrontal cor- much self-control yet, the home environ-
tex and areas deep inside the brain involved in
emotional responses. The anterior cingulate
Figure 1. Brain Regions Involved in
Glossary Visitation
Overnight receives messages from many brain regions Self-Control
and integrates all of the information to regu-
Anterior cingulate — An area of the brain Anterior Cingulate
late both cognitive and emotional processes
sandwiched between the frontal lobe and Illustration: © iStockphoto.com/Matthias Haas
emotion-related brain regions. The anterior (Zelazo et al., 2008). It is involved in control-
cingulate integrates cognition with ling behavior in challenging situations and
emotional impulses, controls behavior in making adjustments to behavior when a strat-
challenging situations, and adjusts egy is not working (Luu & Tucker, 2002).
behavior when a strategy is not working. The top part of the anterior cingulate, which
receives messages from the prefrontal
Orbitofrontal cortex — An area of the brain cortex, becomes more active from ages 3 to
located behind the eyes, involved in 6 years, and it is during this same developmen-
decision making and reward.
tal period that children become better able to
wait for a reward and to suppress impulsive Prefrontal Orbitofrontal
Prefrontal cortex — An area of the brain Cortex Cortex
located behind the forehead that is behaviors (Posner & Rothbart, 2000). The
involved in higher level attention and logical frontal part of the brain becomes more
A child’s behavior is determinded by
cognition, following rules, suppressing an capable of exerting control over the emo-
different parts of the brain working
impulse, reasoning, and decision making. tional, impulsive part of the brain, at least
together.
some of the time.
I mproving self-control in children at Preschool program improves cognitive control following. Speaking out loud also is intended
risk could be beneficial not only to their A. Diamond, W. S. Barnett, J. Thomas, & to help children resist an impulse when rules
current functioning but also for the many S. Munro 2007 change, such as first learning to clap when they
long-term developmental outcomes asso- Science, 318, 1387–1388 are shown a picture of a square and then chang-
ciated with self-control. Numerous inter- On-line supplemental materials: www.sci- ing the rule and learning to stomp in response
ventions focus on trying to address negative encemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/5855/1387/DC1 to a square.
outcomes associated with self-control, such This is one example of a program to improve 4. Provide opportunities for dramatic play. Children
as antisocial behavior problems and aca- control of attention and cognition, designed to plan out a play scenario in advance, through dis-
demic difficulties, but it can be challenging to be incorporated into a preschool or kindergar- cussion or by drawing it, to give them practice
get children back on track once they have had ten classroom on a daily basis. The supplemen- developing planning skills. Role-playing also may
these problems for a while. Early behavior tal materials provide information about the Tools help children learn impulse control, because they
problems and academic failures tend to have of the Mind curriculum and evidence for the pro- must remain in character and inhibit behaviors
a snowballing effect, in which the child gets gram’s effectiveness. As detailed in the supple- that would not fit their role in the game.
further and further off course in both socio- ment, strategies used by this program to improve
emotional and academic functioning. Focus- self-control include the following: Attention Skills Training Program
ing interventions on developing self-control www.teach-the-brain.org/learn/downloads/
in early childhood may help to prevent these 1. Provide concrete, external aids to remind chil- index.htm
later negative outcomes from developing in dren to stay “on task,” such as a clean up song. This curriculum was developed by Rueda,
the first place (Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, 2. Have one child perform a task, such as count- Rothbart, et al. (2005) as a brief intervention
& Munro, 2007). We know that learning ing, and a second child then check his partner’s to help preschool children improve control of
experiences in early childhood help shape work. The goal is to promote turn taking and attention. It is available to download for free at
developing brain regions that are important self-monitoring. this Web site.
for self-control. What if an intervention
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