Cognitive and behavioral training interventions to promote self-control.

Abstract

This review article discusses various cognitive and behavioral interventions that have been developed with the goal of promoting self-controlled responding. Self-control can exert a significant impact on human health and impulsive behaviors are associated with a wide range of diseases and disorders, leading to the suggestion that impulsivity is a trans-disease process. The self-control interventions include effort exposure, reward discrimination, reward bundling, interval schedules of reinforcement, impulse control training, and mindfulness training. Most of the interventions have been consistently shown to increase self-control, except for mindfulness training. Some of the successful interventions are long-lasting, whereas others may be transient. Most interventions are domain-specific, targeting specific cognitive and behavioral processes that relate to self-control rather than targeting overall self-control. For example, effort exposure appears to primarily increase effort tolerance, which in turn can improve self-control. Similarly, interval schedules primarily target interval timing, which promotes self-controlled responses. A diagram outlining a proposed set of intervention effects on self-control is introduced to motivate further research in this area. The diagram suggests that the individual target processes of the interventions may potentially summate to produce general self-control, or perhaps even produce synergistic effects. In addition, it is suggested that developing a self-control profile may be advantageous for aligning specific interventions to mitigate specific deficits. Overall, the results indicate that interventions are a promising avenue for promoting self-control and may help to contribute to changing health outcomes associated with a wide variety of diseases and disorders.

Delay discounting of different outcomes: Review and theory

“…Furthermore, although delay discounting has trait characteristics, it can also be influenced by environmental events over a relatively short time frame, as in the differential discounting of delayed outcomes described in this review, as well as over a longer time frame, as in interventions to reduce delay discounting (see Smith et al, ). Because of the detrimental nature of steep delay discounting and its association with addiction, obesity, gambling, and other maladies, there is great recent interest and development in experimental techniques to decrease the degree of delay discounting.…”

“…For example, temporal perception appears to be related to delay discounting. Selective overestimation of time (perceiving time as passing more quickly; e.g., Baumann & Odum, ), and generally inaccurate temporal perception (e.g., Marshall et al, ) are associated with greater delay discounting (see Smith et al, ). Differences in temporal perception could underlie delay discounting and thus its trait characteristics.…”

Study Oftheinfluence of Wristtapping on Alpha-Rhythm Synchronization in A

“…Dynamic functional connections are currently being explored in a variety of contexts related to both behavior and neural activity, thus deepening our understanding of functional networks in the brain. Numerous studies have shown reproducible patterns of short-term neuronal activity that travel throughout the brain [19]. Analysis of dynamic functional connections showed that spontaneous transitions between networks of interacting brain regions are highly organized into a hierarchy of two types of meta states: one for higher-order cognitive systems, and the other for sensorimotor systems [20].…”

MindHike, a Digital Coaching Application to Promote Self-Control: Rationale, Content, and Study Protocol

“…Three different methods are distinguished: (a) practicing self-control (e.g., engaging in actions that require effort to sustain or that are counter-habit), (b) goal attainment (e.g., implementation intentions, mental contrasting), and (c) mental transformation (e.g., transforming "hot" temptations to "cold, " shifting construal level). Also, a recent review discusses cognitive and behavioral training interventions to promote self-control (19). The discussed self-control training interventions included effort exposure, reward discrimination, reward bundling, interval schedules of reinforcement, impulse control training, and mindfulness training.…”

“…Hence, it is not surprising that efforts have been made to design interventions and trainings to promote self-control in adolescence and adulthood through learning, practice, and effort (16). Experimental and intervention research suggests that regular practice of self-control may improve self-control with small-to-medium effects (17)(18)(19). Interventions are a promising avenue for promoting self-control and may help to contribute to various positive outcomes.…”