But these new results suggest that your ability to delay gratification was not some skill with which you were born. You may have been born smarter than the average child, but your skill at delaying gratification may have been one you learned from your parents and assimilated from the home environment in which your grew up. This may be one of those nature-or-nurture skirmishes in which nurture wins. And, it may be another good example of the importance of the first 3 or 4 years in a child’s emotional and psychological development.
Dr. Wilkoff practiced primary care pediatrics in Brunswick, Maine for nearly 40 years. He has authored several books on behavioral pediatrics, including “How to Say No to Your Toddler.” Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.