Self-Control

Question 1

Why do we have trouble exerting self-control?

Answer 1

We discount the value of future rewards (which are often larger and more important) by a factor that increases with the length of the delay.

Question 2

Under which conditions would people probably be apathetic about a problem?

Answer 2

• If the people felt they couldn’t personally make a difference
• If the problem would affect others first
• If the people couldn’t really see the problem getting worse - that is, if the damage accumulated gradually

Question 3

How could medical compliance be effectively encouraged?

Answer 3

By keeping track of whether people have taken their medication and reminding them if they forget.

Question 4

How could you supersize an incentive to encourage medical compliance?

Answer 4

By using a lottery with one big reward and frequent small rewards

Question 5

What change to an incentive would probably increase its motivational power?

Answer 5

• Gving the reward in the near future
• Making the reward part of a regret lottery
• Incorporating counterfactual thinking by comparing someone’s situation to what it could have been in a best-case scenario

Question 6

Why do Olympic silver medal winners appear to be less happy than bronze medal winners during the award ceremony?

Answer 6

Bronze medalists compare themselves to those who didn’t receive a medal, while silver medalists compare themselves to the gold medalist.

Question 7

What are some ways to get people to act in their long-term interests by focusing on short-term benefits?

Answer 7

• Make acting in their long-term interests convenient
• Incentivize people by showing how important their present decisions are

Question 8

What is ego depletion?

Answer 8

When you are continually exerting self-control, your ability to resist temptation weakens over time.

Question 9

What are known factors that influences our ability to resist temptation?

Answer 9

• Inherent ability for self-control
• The strict rules we subscribe to
• The freedom we have to make choices

Question 10

How is the “Save More Tomorrow” program designed to overcome the problems people have with saving enough?

Answer 10

• It takes advantage of inertia and the status quo bias by making it a default to increase savings
• To avoid the sense that saving more is a loss, increased savings come with raises.

Question 11

In what way does fMRI scans show that people have different preferences for decisions with immediate versus distant effects?

Answer 11

Brain areas associated with cognitive control are more active when people consider long-term rewards, but brain areas associated with emotion and impulsivity are more active when people consider short-term rewards.

_{McClure, S. M., Laibson, D. I., Loewenstein, G., & Cohen, J. D. (2004). Separate neural systems value immediate and delayed monetary rewards. Science}