| Self-imposed delay of gratification (SID) is a core concept in the adaptive behaviors of humans and a foundation for the construction of civilization or individual's socialization, and also central reflections of human consciousness and wisdom. It requires that individuals should postpone and inhibit the temptation of the immediate and less valuable rewards for the sake of the long distant and more valuable rewards, show great patience and efforts in the pursuit of goals, and it is an ability of future-oriented self-regulation. The research studies on the SID involve in the fields of Personality, Cognition and Neuropsychology. It is always considered as a vital focus of international psychology from traits theory, such as ego resiliency, ego control to the competence of future-oriented self-regulation in social-cognitive theory and to the emerging theory of "hot"executive functioning. This adaptive SID skill is being presented with multi-facets of Psychological theories. However, up to date, there is no related study on the cognitive features of children's SID in China, so the present study will open the door to this worthy research project. Based on the comprehensively theoretical studies, the research objectives of the present study is to explore the cognitive features of the future-oriented SID in children and the relations between the children's social cognition and self-control from the theoretical and empirical perspectives, and to provide some scientific guidance for children's personality education. The present study is quite different from the relevant studies on external-imposed delay of gratification (EID) using the Gift paradigm in the current domestic research field. The Mischel's choice SID paradigm si adopted in the present study and it is of great significance in the adaptive behavior research. Combining laboratory experiment, situational observation or experiment and semi-structured interview techniques, this present study is to intensively investigate the cognitive features underlying the children's SID from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The focuses of the study are as follows: The first study is to examine the effects of the "cool"verbal representations on preschooler's SID by using experimental method. The contents of verbal representations during the delay interval are manipulated. Two experimental groups use "cool"verbal representations directed to task rule and moral self respectively and another two directed to rewards and no instruction. The second study focuses on the development of meta-cognitive strategic knowledge for children's SID through the semi-structured interview method. The meta-cognition research in social cognition field has been ignored in contrast to that of in the pure cognitive field. The study two begins with the meta-cognitive knowledge for SID and explores the developmental levels of meta-cognitive knowledge and its relations to children's SID behavior. The third study focuses on the relationships between theory of mind, executive functioning and SID behavior. From the developmental perspective, ToM and executive functioning are considered as early sources of meta-cognition. The study three is to investigate the relationships between the children's early meta-cognition and the SID behavior by using situational experimental method in order to reveal the early cognitive factors that predict the future-oriented SID behavior. Collectively, the present study is to systematically analyze the cognitive basis of the future-oriented SID behavior in children, try to theoretically enrich the theories of children's social cognition and its relations to behavior control, and provide some scientific basis and guidance for children's personality education. Based on the general discusses on the cognitive features of SID in children, the main findings in this present study are as follows: 1. The task of Self-imposed Delay is quite different from the Gift delay paradigm, it consists of two complicated and conflicted contingences in time and value and presents a kind of self-regulated competence employed in the competitive and stressful situations. Depending on this skill, the individuals may win the more profits in the future life, so it is of positively adaptive implications. 2. As a competence, SID is related to one's cognitive abilities. The effective SID behavior requires a variety of cognitive skills under one's consciousness, such as "cool"cognitive strategies, meta-cognition, ToM and executive functioning. It does not just stay at the level of response inhibition. 3. The latency during the delay is influenced by the content of verbal representation. Task rule-directed cool cognition significantly improves the delay latency, esp. among 3-4 years old children and it seems that boys are more apt to value the rules. 4. The level of meta-cognitive strategic knowledge is an important factor that affects on the children's self-delay behavior. With the ages increase, the level of meta-cognitive knowledge for SID also develops from the lower ignorant and vague levels in preschoolers to the higher consistent and self-regulated levels in third and sixth graders. 5. The coping strategies for delay used by children vary with the age. The inhibited strategy is used dominantly in lower aged preschoolers and rule-based strategy is evident among the elder preschoolers. Distraction becomes the main strategy with the age increasing. 6. The development of meta-cognitive strategic knowledge for delay shows some tendency from specific to abstract, mono-dimensional to multi-dimensional, from outside help seeking to self-reliance. These changes are closed related to children's cognitive development. 7. The linkage among SID behavior, ToM and executive functioning may exist in the following three aspects: task itself, similar developmental changes in age and frontal lobe. The performances of three tasks improve with the age increasing, esp. in 4 years old. 8. Although the relations exist among the three measures, the causality among them is not clear in this present study and it need to be verified by further experimental study.
|
PDF Full Text Request