Self-Control Fagus Guides > Self-Control Contents How to Use This Guide to Set Goals Introduction Developmental Sequence Overview Infancy                               (0-2 years) Early Childhood           (2-7 years) Middle Childhood      (7-11 years) Adolescence           …

How to Use This Guide to Set Goals Fagus Guides > Self-Control How to Use This Guide to Set Goals Read the definition at the beginning of the introduction to familiarise yourself with the topic (decide if you want to read more of the introduction) Establish the child’s current point of development – where are…

Introduction Fagus Guides > Self-Control Introduction Defining Self-Control The term self-control refers to the ability to deliberately alter or restrain one’s responses. It involves the effortful regulation of thoughts, emotions, attention, impulses and behaviour when immediate temptations conflict with longer term values or goals. Tagney et al. (2004) describe self-control as the ability to alter…

Developmental Sequence Overview Fagus Guides > Self-Control Developmental Sequence Overview The Development of Self-Control The following section describes the developmental changes in a child’s self-control between birth and 19 years (see Figure 2 for an overview). Please note that developmental ranges and ages vary substantially from child to child within typical/neurotypical development. The sequence should…

Infancy (0-2 years) Fagus Guides > Self-Control Infancy (0-2 years) A child’s sense of self does not develop until after infancy, therefore the behaviours listed in this section are foundational processes to the later development of self-control: Birth born with primitive reflexes Primitive reflexes Adaptive, automatic responses to certain stimuli, which are exhibited by infants…

Early Childhood (2-7 years) Fagus Guides > Self-Control Early Childhood (2-7 years) 2 years behaviour is driven by the child’s own motivations, which may result in their self-control seeming weaker at 2 years than it was at 18 months conflict between obeying demands and acting upon their own desires results in periods of tantrums and…

Middle Childhood (7-11 years) Fagus Guides > Self-Control Middle Childhood (7-11 years) behaves and responds appropriately with different people in a wide range of settings independently completes familiar activities fewer angry outbursts when frustrated can control temper when criticised understands that actions have consequences accepts unfavourable decisions made by adults self-control is practised as opportunities…

Adolescence (11-19 years) Fagus Guides > Self-Control Adolescence (11-19 years) uses metacognitive strategies when selecting behaviours considers long term social and emotional consequences of actions considers the effects of their actions on, and coordinates their actions with, others integrates different perspectives and pathways to develop the best plan of action increase in autonomy as the…

Self-Control: Example Objectives, Goals and Plans Fagus Guides > Self-Control Self-Control: Example Objectives, Goals and Plans These examples were developed for pupils attending Beech Lodge School. Pupil A is 7 years old. He makes noises and sings during lessons. The pupil has shown the ability to stop himself from making these sounds in several lessons,…

Glossary Fagus Guides > Self-Control Glossary Activational control: the ability to activate a behavioural response, especially when one does not want to do so Attentional regulation: the ability to voluntarily shift our attention between irrelevant and relevant stimuli Committed compliance: compliance to an adult’s agenda, regardless of whether the adult is present (e.g. not playing…

References Fagus Guides > Self-Control References Baumeister, R.F. (2002). Ego depletion and self-control failure: An energy model of the self ’s executive function. Self and Identity, 1(2), 129-136. Baumeister, R.F., Vohs, K.D. & Tice, D.M. (2007). The strength model of self-control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(6), 351 – 355. Chow, J.T. & Lau, S.…