Cuttlefish Show Impressive Ability to Exert Self Control

Cuttlefish Show Impressive Ability to Exert Self Control

Theresa Machemer

"Self-control is thought to be the cornerstone of intelligence, as it is an important prerequisite for complex decision-making and planning for the future," says Schnell, who now works at the University of Cambridge, to Yasemin Saplakoglu at Live Science. "Why cuttlefish evolved the ability to exert self-control is a bit of a mystery.”

A long-term follow-up study showed that the children who waited for the second marshmallow had more success later in life. Mischel cautioned against overgeneralizing the results, and another study published in 2018 that controlled for the kids’ socioeconomic background showed a much weaker correlation between patience and later success, Jennifer Ouellette reports for Ars Technica.

The cuttlefish version of the experiment looked a lot different...