Episodic future thinking and delay of gratification in children: An individual differences study

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Research has not established a link between episodic future thinking (EFT) and delay of gratification (DoG) in children, nor has EFT cueing been shown to enhance children's DoG.
• Understanding developmental trajectories of self-control requires insight into the mechanisms governing children's DoG performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate individual differences predicting 8-11-year-olds' performance on delay of gratification (DoG) tasks, with and without episodic future thinking (EFT) cueing.
• To determine if these individual differences predict children's ability to benefit from EFT cueing.

Main Methods:

• Children (8-11 years) completed two DoG tasks: a delay choice task (real rewards) and a delay discounting task (hypothetical rewards), each with and without EFT cueing.
• Analyses controlled for age and general verbal ability, examining predictors of task performance and benefits from EFT cueing.

Main Results:

• No tested individual differences predicted enhanced DoG performance from EFT cueing across either task when controlling for age and verbal ability.
• Positive contemplation emotion uniquely predicted performance on the EFT-cued delay choice task.
• For the EFT-cued delay discounting task, EFT ability, working memory, and proactive attentional control predicted performance, suggesting cognitive load associated with EFT cueing.

Conclusions:

• EFT cueing appears effortful for children, potentially requiring significant cognitive resources, especially in tasks like delay discounting.
• Individual differences in cognitive abilities and future-oriented emotion play a role in children's delay of gratification, particularly when employing future thinking strategies.