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Self-control without a "self"?: common self-control processes in humans and dogs.

Holly C Miller¹, Kristina F Pattison, C Nathan DeWall

¹Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. holly.miller@uky.edu

Psychological Science

|April 29, 2010

Summary

Self-control in dogs and humans may depend on blood glucose levels. Providing glucose to dogs after self-control tasks improved their persistence, suggesting a shared biological mechanism.

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Area of Science:

Comparative Psychology
Neuroscience
Animal Behavior

Background:

Self-control is crucial for human behavior.
The biological underpinnings of self-control, particularly the role of glucose, are increasingly understood in humans.
It remains unclear if similar mechanisms govern self-control in nonhuman species.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if blood glucose availability influences self-control in dogs.
To determine if the self-control mechanisms in dogs mirror those observed in humans.
To provide evidence for a shared biological resource for self-control across species.

Main Methods:

Two experiments were conducted with dogs to assess self-control.
Experiment 1: Compared persistence on an unsolvable task after initial self-control exertion versus no prior exertion.
Experiment 2: Administered glucose to dogs after self-control exertion to observe effects on persistence.

Main Results:

Dogs that exerted self-control initially showed reduced persistence on a subsequent task.
Providing glucose to dogs post-exertion counteracted the negative impact on persistence.
These results align with previous findings in human self-control studies.

Conclusions:

Self-control in dogs appears to rely on a limited energy resource, specifically blood glucose.
This study provides the first evidence of a shared biological mechanism for self-control between humans and nonhumans.
The findings have significant implications for understanding self-control across diverse species.