Strategic Allocation of Attention
Instead, Mischel discovered something interesting when he studied the tiny percentage of kids who could successfully wait for the second treat. Without exception, these “high delayers” all relied on the same mental strategy: They found a way to keep themselves from thinking about the treat, directing their gaze away from the yummy marshmallow. Some covered their eyes or played hide-and-seek underneath the desks. Others sang songs from Sesame Street, or repeatedly tied their shoelaces, or pretended to take a nap. Their desire wasn’t defeated, it was merely forgotten.
Mischel refers to this skill as the “strategic allocation of attention,” and he argues that it’s the skill underlying self-control.
John Brockman, This Will Make You Smarter (2012-02-14)
Notes
Jonah Lehrer describes a characteristic of children who are later successful in life. They have much better self-control early in life, and they accomplish this by strategically allocating their attention elsewhere to avoid breaking the rules.
References
Schemas
Triples
Not related to other memes yet.
Watson’s reading
Tags generated by IBM Watson from the text. Percentages are its confidence.
Categories
People, places and things
- Mischel Person
- Jonah Lehrer Person