Research on self-control: An integrating framework

• Published in: The Behavioral and brain sciences 1988-12, Vol.11 (4), p.665-679
• Main Author: Logue, A. W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptiveness; Biological and medical sciences; evolutionary theory; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; impulsiveness; Learning. Memory; matching law; Optimal foraging; optimal foraging theory; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reinforcement; Self control; Social discrimination learning; Target Article; Terminology; Theories
• ISSN: 0140-525X; 1469-1825
• DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X00053978

The tendency to choose a larger, more delayed reinforcer over a smaller, less delayed one has frequently been termed “selfcontrol.” Three very different research traditions – two models emphasizing the control of local contingencies of reinforcement (Mischel's social learning theory and Herrnstein's matching law) and molar maximization models (specifically optimal foraging theory) – have all investigated behavior within the self-control paradigm. A framework is proposed to integrate research from all three research areas. This framework consists of three parts: a procedural analysis, a causal analysis, and a theoretical analysis. The procedural analysis provides a common procedural terminology for all three areas. The causal analysis establishes that, in all three research traditions, self-control varies directly with the current physical values of the reinforcers; that is, choices increase with reinforcer amount and decrease with reinforcer delay. But self-control also varies according to past events to which a subject has been exposed, and according to current factors other than the reinforcers. Each of the three models has therefore incorporated these indirect effects on self-control by postulating unobservable mechanisms. In all three cases, these mechanisms represent a subject's behavior as a function of a perceived environment. The theoretical analysis demonstrates that evolutionary theory can encompass the research from all three areas by considering differences in the adaptiveness of self-control in different situations. This integration provides a better and more predictive description of self-control.