In the photo above, Clara is waiting to grab the toy, which I have been moving around with the flirt pole. She will grab it when I give the release cue. Does this demonstrate 1) impulse control; or 2) stimulus control?
Answer: both. Keep reading.
I get it. The terms “impulse control” and “self-control” don’t sound good to positive reinforcement-based trainers. They sound blame-y. “My dog shouldn’t have grabbed that cheese off the counter; he should have had more self-control.” “Did you see her jump at that tug and almost bite my hand? She needs to learn impulse control!”
These terms seem to leave behavior science behind and label the dog. They seem to relate to negative character traits or internal states that we can’t know (but don’t like the results of). People claim they don’t have a definition in behavior science.
But guess what? They do! They have a specific definition in behavior science, well operationalized, with a long history of study. And there is no blame, no fictional narrative implied. The Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and other journals have a wealth of articles on self-control and impulse control.
For the rest of this piece, I will use the term “self-control” to cover Impulse control as well. They overlap in definition (Cooper et al., 2007, p. 16).
This is just the kind of thing I like to tackle, but I always hesitate and consider the implications. Am I nitpicking? Maybe, but I believe there is value in acknowledging a field of study that seems to be little known, and acknowledging the nuances in both concepts. So let’s start with definitions.
Definitions and Examples of Self-Control
Here is a definition of self-control from the literature of applied behavior analysis.
Self-control [is] exemplified by choosing a large delayed reinforcer rather than a small immediate one . . . — Grosch & Neuringer, 1981
This is a straightforward scientific definition. Behaviors that fit this definition can be observed and operationalized.
But the term “self-control” unfortunately has the same issue as “punishment.” The behavior analytic definition is different from the more common usage. Worse, it also differs from the definition in psychology. But we don’t stop using the word punishment; we take the time to explain. We can do that for “self-control.”
Cooper et al. mention two definitions of self-control. One relates to the Grosch & Neuringer definition above. The other was defined and used by Skinner (1953). I’ll discuss that definition in a short section near the end of this piece.
Here is a definition from the field of psychology: “The ability to resist an impulse, desire, or temptation and to regulate its translation into action” (APA dictionary). This definition has become the lay understanding of the term. But with its abstractions about internal states, there is nothing useful in it for the applied study of behavior.
There is a good paper about the operationalization of “self-control” that defines it in opposition to the psychology definition. Here’s a quotation from it:
. . . it is more appropriate to measure choice making behaviors. It has been described that the impulsive choice is selected when the participant chooses the smaller, more immediate reinforcer. The choice is deemed to be a self-controlled choice if the participant chooses the larger, more delayed reinforcer over a smaller, immediate reinforcer. As a result, the abstraction that self-control is a private event is minimized, if not eliminated. Instead, only the choices that are made and observed are considered within the definition. — McKeel & Dixon, 2014 (added bold mine)
In training, the definition of self-control applies to certain skills we teach. Lack of self-control is not a character trait or a label. Nor is it a pathology; it covers a lot of ordinary dog (and human) behavior.
Self-control behaviors can be operationalized when we know our species and our individual. In the photo at the top, I had moved a toy very close to Clara. Being a dog (species) who likes to play with a toy by grabbing, biting, and pulling (species/individual), her likely behavior would be to grab it. But rather than the moving toy being the cue for a grab, my release cue is the cue for it. (If you think that’s relevant to stimulus control, you’re right. But let’s wait before getting further into it.)
Waiting gets her the larger, delayed reward, rather than the immediate, smaller one. The delayed reward is more intense because I have created a history that I will play with her heartily if she waits. She has learned self-control behaviors that help the game be safer for me and still fun for her.
Self-control behaviors have been studied in many species. Check out the references for an interesting article about cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) performing self-control behavior (Schnell et al., 2021).
Here’s an article about self-control in the toutouwai (Petroica longipes), a songbird from Aotearoa (McCallum & Shaw, 2024).
Definitions and Examples of Stimulus Control
While self-control is straightforward and simple to operationalize, stimulus control is a complex topic. Behavior science books generally have a large section or whole chapter on the topic.
I’ve made a handy list of definitions of stimulus control from 12 textbooks in case that’s helpful to anyone else.
Here is a definition I like:
A behavior is said to be under stimulus control when there is an increased probability that the behavior will occur in the presence of a specific antecedent stimulus or a stimulus from a specific stimulus class. — Miltenberger, 2008, p. 145
Although the definitions use specific wording, the concept seems so abstract. At least one textbook I checked says that stimulus control is used as a label (Mayer et al., 2019, p. 326), a common criticism of the term self-control in the dog training world.
The stock phrases in the dog world have not helped. Many people, including me, have defined stimulus control by listing some “rules” about it that are training guidelines. These rules don’t comprise the definition. You can read them in this old post of mine.
I’m going to give some examples of the use of the term stimulus control, because that’s been the easiest way for me to have a beginning understanding of it.
A friend who is an excellent trainer and works in applied behavior analysis posted a video I liked. It shows how she taught her dog to find an item by scent. In the description, she mentions the period when the “stimulus control of the behavior of approaching the item switches from the sight of it to the odor of it.”
At first, the discriminative stimulus for the behavior of approaching the object is it appearing in the dog’s field of vision. Then, as the trainer starts to put the item farther away and out of sight, at some point the dog starts using his nose. The discriminative stimulus is now the odor (although the sight of the item can remain a factor for visible items). We can observe the change in his behavior: he is now sniffing, whereas before he appeared mainly to be looking.
But doesn’t have to be just one stimulus. Many behaviors are under the control of multiple stimuli. Paul Chance says:
Sometimes stimulus control is exerted not by a single stimulus but by a complex array of stimuli that, collectively, influence behavior. We behave differently at a formal ball than we do at a square dance, and behavior that would be acceptable at a beach party is unacceptable at a dinner party. — Chance, 2003, p. 84
For another example involving dogs, think of the stimulus of time of day and how often that pairs with other stimuli to signal the availability of reinforcement. If I go pick up my dog’s food toy when it’s not time for a meal, he may keep an eye on me, but he won’t jump up and perform “getting ready to eat” behaviors. But if I pick it up at his usual breakfast time, the time of day plus picking up the toy together comprise an excellent prediction of an imminent meal. Either one of those by itself is a much weaker predictor.
And for my example at the beginning with Clara, when I taught Clara a self-control behavior (waiting until cued to grab the toy) I changed the stimulus control from the movement of the toy to my cue.
The “Control” Part of Stimulus Control
Since behavior relies on probabilities, control is perhaps not the best word, but it’s the one we’ve got. I agree with Dr. Susan Friedman’s suggestion of the term “stimulus influence,” which loses the negative connotations of “control” and the idea that control is absolute. Pierce and Cheney’s definition (2017, p. 171) includes that “A controlling stimulus (S) is said to alter the probability of an operant.” (added bold mine)
Skinner and Self-Control
Skinner used the term “self-control” to describe what we might call “self-management” (1953, Chapter XV Self-Control, p. 227–241). He wrote of arranging stimuli ahead of time to encourage a certain behavior in oneself later.
Here are some modern examples. If I decided to cut sugary snacks from my diet, an early step might be for me to remove all such snacks from my house. And if I wanted to decrease a fast-food habit, I might start food prepping or buy a bunch of easy-to-prepare frozen meals. These actions would fall into Skinner’s category of “self-control.” We would call them antecedent arrangements. It’s interesting, because they would not fall into the popular definition of self-control at all. We’d say such actions were removing the necessity of self-control. An example of the popular definition of self-control would be the ability to have the snacks in the house and not eat them.
Are Self-Control and Stimulus Control Opposites?
I have seen claims that these two concepts that apply to behavior are opposites in effect or implication. I don’t agree. This claim depends on using the psychology definition of self-control rather than the behavior analysis one. The latter is operationalizable, and does not oppose or conflict with the concept of stimulus control at all.
I understand the reasons not to use the terms self-control and impulse control. The standard definitions have baggage we don’t want to carry into positive reinforcement-based training. There are situations where it may be best “not to go there.” But keep in mind, self-control behaviors can be described and classified, there need be no moral judgment attached, and a trainer need not rely on aversive techniques to teach them.
Copyright 2025 Eileen Anderson
References
- Chance, P. (2003). Learning and Behavior (5th ed.). Thomson-Wadsworth.
- Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Pearson.
- Gao, Z., Wang, H., Lu, C., Lu, T., Froudist-Walsh, S., Chen, M., Wang, X., Hu, J., & Sun, W. (2021). The neural basis of delayed gratification. Science Advances, 7(49), eabg6611.
- Grosch, J., & Neuringer, A. (1981). Self-control in pigeons under the Mischel Paradigm. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 35, 3–21. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1981.35-3
- Mayer, G. R., Sulzer-Azaroff, B., & Wallace, M. (2019). Behavior analysis for lasting change (4th ed.). Sloan Pub..
- McCallum, E., & Shaw, R. C. (2024). Measuring self-control in a wild songbird using a spatial discounting task. Animal Cognition, 27(1), 1-16.
- McKeel, A. N., & Dixon, M. R. (2014). Furthering a behavior analytic account of self-control using relational frame theory. Behavioral Development Bulletin, 19(2), 111.
- Miltenberger, R. G. (2008). Behavior modification (4th ed.). Wadsworth.
- Pierce, W. D., & Cheney, C. D. (2017). Behavior analysis and learning: A biobehavioral approach (4th ed.). Routledge.
- Schnell, A. K., Boeckle, M., Rivera, M., Clayton, N. S., & Hanlon, R. T. (2021). Cuttlefish exert self-control in a delay of gratification task. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288(1946), 20203161.
- Skinner, B. F. (1953) Science and human behavior. Pearson.
Photo Credits
Cuttlefish photo from Wikimedia Commons from user Magnafl, included under this license.
Toutouwai (North Island Robin) photo from Wikimedia Commons from user DrewHeath (edited by Tony Wills), included under this license.
All other photos copyright Eileen Anderson.
