Association for Behavior Analysis International

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39th Annual Convention; Minneapolis, MN; 2013

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B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #335
CE Offered: BACB

Do Animals Have "Willpower?" Comparative Investigations of Self-Control

Monday, May 27, 2013
2:00 PM–2:50 PM
Main Auditorium (Convention Center)
Area: SCI; Domain: Basic Research
CE Instructor: Michael J. Beran, Ph.D.
Chair: John C. Borrero (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
MICHAEL J. BERAN (Language Research Center, Georgia State University)
Michael J. Beran is a senior research scientist at Georgia State University and associate director of the Language Research Center. He received his B.A. in psychology from Oglethorpe University in 1997, his M.A. in 1997, and his Ph.D. in 2002, both from Georgia State University. His research is conducted with human and nonhuman primates, including chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, capuchin monkeys, and rhesus monkeys. His research interests include numerical cognition, metacognition, planning and prospective memory, self-control, and decision making. Dr. Beran is a fellow of Division 6 and Division 3 of the American Psychological Association. He was the inaugural Duane M. Rumbaugh Fellow at Georgia State University. He received the Brenda A. Milner award from the APA in 2005. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, written chapters in 20 edited books, and co-edited a book entitled Foundations of Metacognition published by Oxford University Press. His research has been featured on numerous television and radio programs and in magazines, including Animal Planet, the BBC, New Scientist, The Wall Street Journal, and Scientific American Mind. His research is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the European Science Foundation.
Abstract:

Self-control is sometimes necessary for optimal choice behavior, and perhaps even for future-oriented decision-making. Humans sometimes show self-control by choosing better, but more delayed outcomes over more immediate outcomes. However, the failure of self-control (impulsivity) underlies many problematic human behaviors, and has led humans to train themselves to overcome their "animal impulses." But is it fair to assume that animals cannot do the same, and also exhibit self-control? The presentation will argue that it is not fair, and that many species do show some degree of self-control. Delaying gratification (or postponing a response to a present reward for the sake of a future bigger or better reward) is one of the hallmark aspects of self-control. It also is not a unique human capacity. The presentation will discuss recent studies with chimpanzees and other animals that examine the capacities of those animals to delay gratification and the behavioral strategies that they employ to cope with impulsivity. In some cases, there are close parallels between nonhuman animal performance and that of humans, but in other cases those similarities decrease. But, overall, comparative research suggests that humans are not alone in their capacity to demonstrate some degree of "willpower."

 

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