The Development of Delay of Gratification by Cognitive Style and Reward Presentation

인지양식 유형과 보상의 제시형태에 따른 아동의 만족지연능력 발달

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of age, sex, cognitive style and reward presentation on delay of gratification. The subjects of this study were 120 children 4, 6 and 8 years of age attending preschool and an elementary school in Pusan. They were identified as impulsive or reflective according to their performance on Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test. The levels of reward presentation consisted of the reward which was presented physically and the reward which wasn't presented physically. Length of waiting time was recorded as the measure of maintenance of delay of gratification. The data of this study were analyzed with Two-way ANOVA, Duncan's Multiple Range Test. The major finding were as follows: (1) Delay time increased with age. (2) No sex difference is found in delay time. (3) Reflective children delayed longer than impulsive children in all age groups. (4) The reward which wasn't physically presented produced loner delay time than the reward which was physically presented in all age groups.