The Effect of Cognitive Restructuring on Delay of Gratification

NISAN, MORDECAI, and KORIAT, ASHER. The Effect of Cognitive Restructuring on Delay of Gratification. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 492-503. 2 experiments evaluated predictions derived from a cognitive-developmental approach to delay of gratification. In the first, kindergarten children expressed preference for either a small but immediate reward or a large but delayed reward. They were then told about another child who made the opposite choice and were asked to produce reasons justifying the other child's choice. This procedure affected the children's subsequent choices, but only when the reasons supported the delayed choice. Merely presenting children with information that another child chose differently, without asking for reasons, had little effect. In the second experiment, children were presented with either an objective-rational or subjective-emotional argument contradicting their initial preference. The objective argument had a stronger effect on children's subsequent choices, and this effect was stronger when the argument was for delaying gratification than when it supported the immediate reward. Furthermore, children who switched from immediate to delayed reward tended to adhere to the new choice after 3 weeks, while those who switched from the delayed reward to the immediate reward were more likely to revert back to their initial choice. The results were interpreted in terms of a cognitive-developmental view of delay and were seen to indicate that cognitive restructuring may induce delay choices characteristic of a more advanced developmental stage.