CHAPTER 17

Impulse Control

“A true history of human events would show that a far larger proportion of our acts are the result of sudden impulses and accident than of reason of which we so often boast.”

—ALBERT COOPER, BRITISH PARLIAMENTARIAN

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The importance of impulse control in our lives can be demonstrated by an experiment that was conducted on a group of four-year-olds at Stanford University in the early 1960s. Placed in a room, the four-year-olds had a marshmallow placed in front of each one of them. The adults then told the children that they were going to leave the room for ten minutes. The children were also told that when the adults came ...

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