How to break away from habit and follow through on your goals | Sabine Doebel | TEDxMileHigh
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0:10 - 0:13So, I have a confession to make.
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0:13 - 0:16I only recently learned how to drive.
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0:16 - 0:18And it was really hard.
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0:18 - 0:21Now, this wasn't an older brain thing.
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0:21 - 0:25Do you remember what it was like
when you first learned how to drive, -
0:25 - 0:28when every decision you made
was so conscious and deliberate? -
0:29 - 0:32I'd come home from my lessons
completely wiped out mentally. -
0:33 - 0:35Now, as a cognitive scientist,
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0:35 - 0:37I know that this is
because I was using a lot -
0:37 - 0:40of something called "executive function."
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0:41 - 0:43Executive function is our amazing ability
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0:43 - 0:48to consciously control
our thoughts, emotions and actions -
0:48 - 0:50in order to achieve goals,
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0:50 - 0:52like learning how to drive.
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0:52 - 0:53It’s what we use
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0:53 - 0:58when we need to break away from habit,
inhibit our impulses and plan ahead. -
0:59 - 1:02But we can see it most clearly
when things go wrong. -
1:03 - 1:06Like, have you ever accidentally
poured orange juice on your cereal? -
1:06 - 1:08(Laughter)
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1:08 - 1:10Or ever start scrolling on Facebook
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1:10 - 1:12and suddenly realise
you’ve missed a meeting? -
1:13 - 1:15Or maybe this one is more familiar:
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1:15 - 1:18Ever planned to stop at the store
on the way home from work -
1:18 - 1:21and then drive all the way
home instead, on autopilot? -
1:21 - 1:23(Laughter)
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1:23 - 1:25These things happen to everyone.
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1:25 - 1:27And we usually call it "absentmindedness."
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1:27 - 1:29But what's really happening
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1:29 - 1:32is we're experiencing
a lapse in executive function. -
1:32 - 1:36So we use executive function every day
in all aspects of our lives. -
1:36 - 1:38And over the past 30 years,
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1:38 - 1:42researchers have found that it predicts
all kinds of good things, -
1:42 - 1:44in childhood and beyond,
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1:44 - 1:48like social skills, academic achievement,
mental and physical health, -
1:48 - 1:53making money, saving money
and even staying out of jail. -
1:53 - 1:55Sounds great, doesn't it?
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1:55 - 1:57So it's no surprise
that researchers like me -
1:57 - 2:02are so interested in understanding it
and figuring out ways to improve it. -
2:03 - 2:09But lately, executive function has become
a huge self-improvement buzz word. -
2:09 - 2:11People think you can improve it
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2:11 - 2:14through brain-training iPhone apps
and computer games -
2:14 - 2:18or by practicing it in a specific way,
like playing chess. -
2:19 - 2:22And researchers are trying
to train it in the lab -
2:22 - 2:23in hopes of improving it
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2:23 - 2:26and other things related to it,
like intelligence. -
2:27 - 2:28Well, I'm here to tell you
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2:28 - 2:32that this way of thinking
about executive function is all wrong. -
2:32 - 2:36Brain training won't improve
executive function in a broad sense -
2:36 - 2:39because it involves
exercising it in a narrow way, -
2:39 - 2:44outside of the real-world context
in which we actually use it. -
2:44 - 2:47So you can master that
executive-function app on your phone, -
2:47 - 2:50but that's not going to help you
stop pouring OJ on your Cheerios -
2:50 - 2:51twice a week.
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2:51 - 2:53(Laughter)
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2:53 - 2:55If you really want to improve
your executive function -
2:55 - 2:57in a way that matters for your life,
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2:57 - 3:01you have to understand
how it's influenced by context. -
3:01 - 3:03Let me show you what I mean.
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3:03 - 3:05There is a great task
that we use in the lab -
3:05 - 3:07to measure executive function
in young children, -
3:07 - 3:10called the dimensional change card sort.
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3:11 - 3:16In this task, kids have to sort cards
in one way, like by shape, -
3:16 - 3:17over and over,
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3:17 - 3:19until they build up a habit.
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3:19 - 3:24And then they're asked to switch
and sort the same cards in another way, -
3:24 - 3:25like by color.
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3:26 - 3:29Now, really young kids struggle with this.
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3:29 - 3:33Three- and four-year-olds will usually
keep sorting the cards in the old way -
3:33 - 3:37no matter how many times you remind them
of what they should be doing. -
3:37 - 3:40(Video) Instructor: If it's blue,
put it here. If it's red, put it here. -
3:40 - 3:41Here's a blue one.
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3:42 - 3:45Okay, so now we're going to play
a different game. -
3:45 - 3:47We're not going to play
the color game anymore. -
3:47 - 3:49Now we're going to play the shape game.
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3:49 - 3:50In the shape game,
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3:50 - 3:52all the stars go here,
and all the trucks go here. -
3:52 - 3:54Okay?
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3:54 - 3:55Stars go here. Trucks go here.
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3:55 - 3:57Where do the stars go?
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3:58 - 3:59And where do the trucks go?
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4:00 - 4:01Excellent. Okay.
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4:01 - 4:03Stars go here. Trucks go here.
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4:03 - 4:04Here's a truck.
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4:08 - 4:10Stars go here. Trucks go here.
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4:10 - 4:11Here's a star.
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4:13 - 4:15(Laughter)
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4:15 - 4:17So it's really compelling,
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4:17 - 4:21and it's really obvious when she fails
to use her executive function. -
4:21 - 4:23But here's the thing:
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4:23 - 4:25we could train her on this task
and others like it, -
4:25 - 4:27and eventually she'd improve.
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4:27 - 4:32But does that mean she'd have improved
her executive function outside of the lab? -
4:32 - 4:35No, because in the real world,
she'll need to use executive function -
4:35 - 4:39to do a lot more than switching
between shape and color. -
4:39 - 4:42She'll need to switch
from adding to multiplying, -
4:42 - 4:44or from playing to tidying up,
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4:44 - 4:48or from thinking about her own feelings
to thinking about her friend. -
4:48 - 4:50And success in real-world situations
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4:50 - 4:53depends on things
like how motivated you are -
4:53 - 4:55and what your peers are doing.
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4:55 - 4:58And it also depends
on the strategies that you execute -
4:58 - 5:02when you're using executive function
in a particular situation. -
5:02 - 5:06So what I'm saying
is that context really matters. -
5:07 - 5:09Now let me give you an example
from my research. -
5:09 - 5:14I recently brought in a bunch of kids
to do the classic marshmallow test, -
5:14 - 5:16which is a measure
of delay of gratification -
5:16 - 5:20that also likely requires
a lot of executive function. -
5:20 - 5:22So you may have heard about this test,
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5:22 - 5:24but basically, kids are given a choice:
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5:24 - 5:27they can have one marshmallow right away,
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5:27 - 5:28or if they can wait for me
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5:28 - 5:30to go to the other room
and get more marshmallows, -
5:30 - 5:33they can have two instead.
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5:33 - 5:37Now, most kids really want
that second marshmallow. -
5:37 - 5:38But the key question is,
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5:38 - 5:40How long can they wait?
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5:40 - 5:42(Laughter)
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5:42 - 5:46Now, I added a twist
to look at the effects of context. -
5:46 - 5:51I told each kid that they
were in a group, like the green group, -
5:51 - 5:54and I even gave them
a green t-shirt to wear. -
5:55 - 5:56And I said,
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5:56 - 5:59"Your group waited for two marshmallows.
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5:59 - 6:02and this other group,
the orange group, did not." -
6:03 - 6:05Or I said the opposite:
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6:05 - 6:07"Your group didn't wait
for two marshmallows, -
6:07 - 6:09and this other group did."
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6:09 - 6:12And then I left the kid alone in the room,
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6:12 - 6:15and I watched on a webcam
to see how long they waited. -
6:15 - 6:17(Laughter)
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6:24 - 6:27So what I found was
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6:27 - 6:30that kids who believed that their group
waited for two marshmallows -
6:30 - 6:34were themselves more likely to wait.
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6:34 - 6:39So they were influenced by a peer group
that they'd never even met. -
6:40 - 6:42Pretty cool, isn't it?
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6:42 - 6:44Well, so with this result,
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6:44 - 6:47I still didn't know if they
were just copying their group -
6:47 - 6:50or if it was something deeper than that.
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6:50 - 6:51So I brought in some more kids.
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6:51 - 6:53And after the marshmallow test,
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6:53 - 6:56I showed them pictures of pairs of kids,
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6:57 - 7:00and I told them one of these kids
likes to have things right away, -
7:00 - 7:02like cookies and stickers,
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7:02 - 7:04and the other kid likes to wait
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7:04 - 7:06so that they can have
more of these things. -
7:06 - 7:08And then I asked them,
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7:08 - 7:10"Which one of these two kids
do you like more? -
7:10 - 7:12Who would you want to play with?"
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7:12 - 7:16And what I found was that kids
who believed that their group waited -
7:16 - 7:20tended to prefer other kids
who liked to wait for things. -
7:20 - 7:25So learning what their group did
made them value waiting more. -
7:25 - 7:27And not only that,
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7:27 - 7:30these kids likely use executive function
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7:30 - 7:33to generate strategies
to help themselves wait, -
7:33 - 7:36like sitting on their hands
or turning away from the marshmallow -
7:36 - 7:39or singing a song to distract themselves.
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7:39 - 7:41(Laughter)
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7:41 - 7:45So what this all shows
is just how much context matters. -
7:45 - 7:49It's not that these kids
had good executive function or bad; -
7:49 - 7:52it's that the context
helped them use it better. -
7:52 - 7:56So what does this mean
for you and for your kids? -
7:56 - 7:59Well, let's say that you want
to learn Spanish. -
7:59 - 8:01You could try changing your context
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8:01 - 8:04and surrounding yourself
with other people who also want to learn. -
8:05 - 8:08And even better, if these are people
that you really like, -
8:08 - 8:12that way you will be more motivated
to use executive function. -
8:12 - 8:16Or let's say that you want to help
your child do better on her math homework. -
8:16 - 8:18You could teach her strategies
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8:18 - 8:22to use executive function
in that particular context, -
8:22 - 8:25like putting her phone away
before she starts studying -
8:25 - 8:29or planning to reward herself
after studying for an hour. -
8:29 - 8:33Now, I don't want to make it sound
like context is everything. -
8:33 - 8:37Executive function is really complex,
and it's shaped by numerous factors. -
8:37 - 8:39But what I want you to remember
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8:39 - 8:41is if you want to improve
your executive function -
8:41 - 8:44in some aspect of your life,
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8:44 - 8:46don't look for quick fixes.
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8:46 - 8:50Think about the context in how you can
make your goals matter more to you, -
8:50 - 8:55and how you can use strategies to help
yourself in that particular situation. -
8:55 - 8:59I think the ancient Greeks
said it best when they said, -
8:59 - 9:01"Know thyself."
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9:01 - 9:05And a key part of this is knowing
how context shapes your behaviour -
9:05 - 9:09and how you can use that knowledge
to change for the better. -
9:09 - 9:10Thank you.
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9:10 - 9:14(Applause)
- Title:
- How to break away from habit and follow through on your goals | Sabine Doebel | TEDxMileHigh
- Description:
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Research shows that executive function has a profound impact on your life – it correlates with academic achievement, mental and physical health, making and saving money. People use brain-training apps and computer games to help executive function, but psychologist Sabine Doebel explains why that doesn’t work and instead, what you can do to accomplish your goals. Sabine Doebel is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. She has a Ph.D. from the Institute of Child Development in Minnesota. Her research focuses on the development of executive function.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:26