Unfortunately, the human capac-
ity? to? exert? cognitive? control? over? goal-incongruent
impulses? is? far? from? perfect? (Carlson,? Zelazo,? &? Faja,
2013; Cohen, 2005; Diamond, 2013). For instance, adults
make? mistakes? on? simple? tasks? of? executive? function,
which require exercising top-down control over conflict-
ing subcortical impulses. For instance, the classic Stroop
task takes advantage of the fact that reading is a relatively
automatic response for mature adults (Stroop, 1935). In
this task, individuals try to state aloud the color of the ink
in which a contrasting color word is printed (e.g., saying
the? word? “blue”? when? presented? with? the? word? “red”
written? in? blue? ink).? Even? when? successful,? exercising
executive function is reliably effortful and, in most cases,
at least mildly aversive (Inzlicht, Legault, & Teper, 2014;
Kurzban et?al., 2013; Westbrook & Braver, 2015). Similarly,
hiding our emotions (e.g., trying not to cry when sad or
trying not to smile when amused) sometimes works but
often does not and, even when successful, takes a physi-
ological toll (Gross & Levenson, 1993).
