ABSTRACT
Behaving in ways that optimize the satisfaction of an organism’s needs is a challenging task. Not only do organisms face a tremendous degree of uncertainty about what kinds of behaviors will be successful in a given environment; they are also faced with numerous decision dilemmas (Goschke, 2013), one of the most important being the dilemma caused by conflicts between short-term payoffs and long-term goals. The distinction between impulsive (i.e., short sighted, fast) decisions and behaviors on the one hand and reflected (i.e., far sighted, slow) decisions and behaviors on the other hand is at the core of many everyday problems and captured by multiple psychological theories. Impulsive decisions and behaviors are typically defined as occurring quickly, with little care for accuracy, and without consideration of future outcomes. Reflective decisions and behaviors, on the other hand, are typically defined in terms of the opposite characteristics, involving slower responses that are based on careful consideration of multiple outcomes, including abstract and future consequences (Evenden, 1999; Kagan, 1966).
