The voice of self-control: blocking the inner voice increases impulsive responding.
Philosophers and psychologists have long-debated the notion that the voice in our heads might help us to control our actions. Evidence from a number of lines of research suggests that verbal resources help us to focus attention, providing reason to believe that the inner voice might aid self-control via this capacity. In this study we explored the link between verbal resources and self-control by occupying the inner voice and then assessing behavioral indices of self-control. Participants completed regular and switching versions of the Go/No-Go task while doing verbal or spatial secondary tasks. Compared with the spatial task, doing the verbal task resulted in more impulsive responding, as indicated by a greater tendency to make a 'Go' response, a pattern that was accentuated in the switching version of the Go/No-Go. Our results suggest that the inner voice helps us to exert self-control by enhancing our ability to restrain our impulses.
Tullett
Alexa M
AM
University of Toronto, Department of Psychology, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada. alexa.tullett@utoronto.ca
Inzlicht
Michael
M
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009864:Ontario; D011930:Reaction Time