The Marshmallow Experiment

My mom is busier than anyone I know. She's either playing bridge, mentoring seniors, gallery hopping, going to the theatre or attending an interesting lecture. The last lecture she went to dealt with the subject of success, and what leads to success. She told me about the marshmellow experiment. Many of you who have studied psychology probably know about it, but I did not, and found it extremely interesting.

In the mid 1960's, Walter Mischel of Stanford University, was in charge of study to identify the mental processes that allowed some people to delay gratification while others simply surrendered. Here's what he did. He put a child in a room and put a marshmellow on the table. He told the child that he could eat the marshmellow while the tester stepped out of the room for a few minutes, or he could wait until the tester returned and he would get two marshmallows. It was interesting to watch the children fighting the urge to eat the marshmallow. Some would pick it up, smell it and put it back. Others would take just a little bite and leave the rest, hoping they may still get the second marshmallow. Still others would find other ways to occupy themselves until the tester returned, then they would get their reward.

What did Mischel find out from all this? He found a direct correlation between the ability to delay gratification and success. Those who could delay gratification were better behaved in school, better able to plan ahead, had a greater ability to cope well with problems, and on average, scored 210 points higher on the S.A.T. test than those who were "low delayers." (unable to wait for the tester to return for a second marshmellow).

He actually followed these kids into adulthood, and found the more successful adults were also the ones that ended up getting the extra marshmallow. What I find interesting is that even though every child may not have the ability to delay gratification at age 3 or 4, it is definitely something that can be taught. So, if you know as a parent or grandparent that your child is imppulsive and wants everything now, you can actually teach him to delay gratification and improve his chances for success in many areas of his life. I thought this was an interesting study and wanted to share it with you.