> So what's your point, precisely?

The study measures ability to avoid temptation in children at one point in time, it doesn't measure how this ability changes over time. So it doesn't make sense to make any claim about an adult's ability to improve temptation avoidance, because the study doesn't measure that.

You could measure the ability to walk in a set of toddlers, but that doesn't imply that it doesn't bode well for our ability to walk as adults.

As a child, I spelt the word differently. Then I moved to England and started intentionally spelling it the British way. I still live in Britain so I don't want to change that.

If I now decide to move to the US, I might decide to start spelling it the American way, and if I put in a little effort to change that habit I think I would be able to achieve that.

Personality, behaviour, habits etc... are not static. We're constantly shaped by our experiences in life. That includes- but is not limited to- the experiences we have early in life. But that doesn't say anything about our ability to change behaviour later in life.

> suggests that our ability to avoid temptation is a function of our socio-economic back-ground and/or the behaviors of our parents

> So it doesn't bode well for our ability to improve temptation avoidance as adults

I don't understand why this is the case. Our lives and behaviour as adults are significantly different to when we were children.