PSYC19H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1, 2, 4, 9: Toilet Training, Psychological Science, Sad Movie
Document Summary
Personal qualities that predict positive outcomes in life= intelligence (there is no way as of right now to permanently increase your intelligence) and self control (we have rediscovered how to improve self control) Research into willpower and self-control is psychology"s best hope for contributing to human welfare. Baumeister observed willpower in the lab: it gives people strength to persevere, lose control when it is depleted, and that this mental energy is fueled by glucose in the bloodstream. Willpower like a muscle becomes fatigued from overuse but can be strengthened over time with exercise. Improving willpower is the surest way to a better life. Most major problems center on failure of self control. Self control is a trait that people were least likely to recognize in themselves; at the top of most people"s failings list. Desire= norm, not exception, about the time, people were feeling some desire at the moment the beepers in the study went off.
