TEACHING SELF-CONTROL SKILLS TO CHILDREN

Abstract
Self-control is choosing and enacting an option that is a better choice than an alternative tempting option, even when the tempting option is more pleasurable. A vast amount of psychopathology and human misery spring from self-control deficiencies. An important method of instilling self-control is to provide the child with thousands of opportunities to work successfully for a delayed reward. For many children with dispositions toward self-control and favorable early learning experiences, the ordinary demands of school and home life may be sufficient to provide these practice opportunities. But for those who arrive at school with significant self-control deficiencies, a more intensive training intervention is hypothesized to hold out potential for long-term gain. Self-control may be taught by methods including goal-setting, modeling, instruction, practice, reinforcement, and monitoring. Intensive intervention usually involves moving downward on the hierarchy of difficulty for self-control challenges to the point where the child is able to be successful, and then working up the hierarchy at a rate determined by the child\'s success frequency. For many children with great self-control problems, one-on-one training is the point of entry into the child\'s experience of success with self-control tasks.

Key words
Autocontrol, retraso en la gratificación, auto regulación, auto disciplina

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