{"id":162442,"date":"2016-05-24T15:00:09","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T19:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=162442"},"modified":"2017-12-05T11:58:15","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T16:58:15","slug":"cant-resist-temptation-that-may-not-be-a-bad-thing-162442","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/cant-resist-temptation-that-may-not-be-a-bad-thing-162442\/","title":{"rendered":"Can\u2019t resist temptation? That may not be a bad thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

University researchers suggest that children raised in poverty may have been mistakenly labeled as \u201cmaladapted\u201d for what appears to be a lack of self-control. The new study finds that what looks like selfishness may actually be beneficial behavior that\u2019s based on a child\u2019s environmental context\u2014that is to say, from being raised in a resource-poor environment.<\/p>\n

The classic 1970s \u201cmarshmallow tests\u201d assessed impulse control in preschoolers. Children were given a choice to take a single marshmallow immediately, or to wait several minutes and earn two of the puffy treats as a reward. Children who displayed an apparent lack of self-control\u2014demonstrated by taking the single treat\u2014were deemed \u201cmaladapted.\u201d Follow-up studies identified children who are raised in poverty are far less likely to postpone such sweet temptations than their economically better-off counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat looks like impulsiveness may actually be an adaptive strategy\u2014kids who are brought up in homes with limited resources have learned it\u2019s advantageous to seize the moment,\u201d said Melissa Sturge-Apple, associate professor of psychology<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and clinical researcher at the University’s\u00a0Mt. Hope Family Center<\/a><\/strong> (MHFC).<\/p>\n

For the new study, Sturge-Apple and her colleagues measured the vagal tone of preschoolers before they participated in reward-based experiments. The vagus nerve streams information from the heart, lungs, stomach, and other organs to the brain. It\u2019s associated with the moderation of moods including fear and anxiety. High vagal tone is a physiological indicator of what we would call \u201cgrace under fire\u201d\u2014the body\u2019s ability to slow down heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, which can allow for a thoughtful response.<\/p>\n

\"chart<\/a>
The moderating role of socioeconomic status on associations between vagal tone and children\u2019s delay of gratification.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Previous research in reward-based studies has shown that for children from high-resource households, high vagal tone is predictive of their ability to delay gratification. The higher their vagal tone, the longer these children can delay\u2014they are able to keep calm, wait, and earn additional rewards.<\/p>\n

In the Rochester study published in Psychological Science<\/u><\/a><\/em><\/strong>, however, children from low-resource households that have high vagal tone did not demonstrate the same behavior as middle class children. In fact, it was just the opposite. For children living in poverty, the higher their vagal tone, the quicker they decided to take the single treat \u2014M&Ms candies in this case\u2014and not wait despite the promise of more.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a normative model of psychology, this result makes no sense. But when we considered what would be the most optimal behavior in a high-risk environment, then this makes complete sense\u2014it\u2019s survival of the quickest,\u201d Sturge-Apple explained. \u201cContext means everything. When all is well and prosperous, kids who are highly attuned to what is going on around them can wait, but when things are scarce and unpredictable, then the question becomes \u201cwhy wait?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer Suor and Patrick Davies from Rochester, Dante Cicchetti of the University of Minnesota, Michael Skibo of Westchester Community College, and Fred Rogosch of Mt. Hope Family Center co-authored the study. The National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Institute of Mental Health supported the research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new study finds that what might have been described as “maladapted” behavior or a lack of self control may actually be beneficial and thoughtful behavior for children who have been raised in resource-poor environments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":562,"featured_media":162492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456],"tags":[2926,18592,4626,25882,2036,18572,16072],"class_list":["post-162442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-culture","tag-child-development","tag-department-of-psychology","tag-featured-post","tag-melissa-sturge-apple","tag-mt-hope-family-center","tag-research-finding","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan\u2019t resist temptation? 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