Cognitive Design

 A new article in psychological science suggests a neural connection between self control and intelligence.

“The results show that participants with the greatest activation in the brain region known as the anterior prefrontal cortex also scored the highest on intelligence tests and exhibited the best self-control during the financial reward test. “

“The authors suggest that greater activity in the anterior prefrontal cortex helps people not only to manage complex problems, resulting in higher intelligence, but also aids in dealing with simultaneous goals, leading to better self-control. ”

So intelligence might be a proxy for estimating a capacity for behavioral self control. This is a useful insight for cognitive designers that need to understand individual differences in users as they fail or succeed with products and programs that require self control during use (e.g. wellness, savings and self-care programs).