Abstract
The effects of television commercials as a symbolic representation in the delay of gratification paradigm were studied. Preschool children waiting for a food reward in a no-television-commercial condition had substantially shorter waiting times than children in a food-ad or a toy-ad condition. However, there were no significant differences between the food-ad and the toy-ad group in terms of amount of time waited. A post hoc analysis suggested that both the toy ads and the food ads had, as their most salient feature to the children, not consummatory or play aspects but general "fun," distracting aspects. This replicates Mischel, Ebbesen, and Zeiss's (1972) finding that children's generating fun thoughts served to facilitate their delaying. The need for research on the influence of television commercials on children's self-control and the apparent feasibility of the delay of gratification paradigm as one experimental approach are discussed.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 217-224 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Cognitive Therapy and Research |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1985 |