Managing+impulsivity

= Managing impulsivity =

//"Delay gratification - it is the essence of emotional self regulation."// Danial Goleman

An impulsive behavior is one that is done without forethought of the action. Their are many times during my education in chemistry where I have thought of doing something impulsively, such as answering a question without serious thought, however, after thought I had realized I was wrong. Some people say to stick with your impulsive thought, and usually this may be the case, however, not always. An example of this can be seen on my chemistry test as seen below.



As seen from the above figure, the following question asks whether the given scenario (which was a piece of ice on a hand) was an endothermic or exothermic reaction. My initial thought was that the reaction was an exothermic one, because energy is released because the ice is melting. However, after thinking about the scenario and imaging the scene in my mind, I thought of the situation again. I managed my impulsive behavior and re-thought of the question again. However, this time, I took into account the environment, and thought of the different diagrams for the exothermic and endothermic reaction and which one the scenario would mimic. It was then that I realized that the ice had taken in energy from the surroundings to make it melt, and therefore making my hand colder, which was initially warmer. I also realized that the diagram for an endothermic reaction fits the ice and hand scenario given in the question. I then realized that my first impulsive thought was wrong, but after thinking about the question more and more, I had come up with the correct one.