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In the late 1960's an experiment was conducted with the goal to identify the mental processes that allowed some people to delay gratification while others surrendered.
Kids were asked to sit alone in a room and given one marshmallow. They were made an offer: either to eat that one marshmallow right away or wait a few minutes until the researcher comes back and then they could have another. In the original test they had a bell and if they rang it, the researcher would come back but the kid would only get one marshmallow.
Here's a video of the test being repeated:
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWW1vpz1ybo"]Kids & the Marshmallow Test[/YOUTUBE]
And here's an article about the original test in the 1960s and the subsequent research - The secret of self-control : The New Yorker
A few excerpts from the article:
Thinking back, would you have passed the Marshmallow Test as a kid?
Kids were asked to sit alone in a room and given one marshmallow. They were made an offer: either to eat that one marshmallow right away or wait a few minutes until the researcher comes back and then they could have another. In the original test they had a bell and if they rang it, the researcher would come back but the kid would only get one marshmallow.
Here's a video of the test being repeated:
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWW1vpz1ybo"]Kids & the Marshmallow Test[/YOUTUBE]
And here's an article about the original test in the 1960s and the subsequent research - The secret of self-control : The New Yorker
A few excerpts from the article:
/.../ the children who rang the bell quickly, seemed more likely to have behavioral problems, both in school and at home. They got lower S.A.T. scores. They struggled in stressful situations, often had trouble paying attention, and found it difficult to maintain friendships. The child who could wait fifteen minutes had an S.A.T. score that was, on average, two hundred and ten points higher than that of the kid who could wait only thirty seconds. /.../
/.../ This task forces kids to find a way to make the situation work for them. They want the second marshmallow, but how can they get it? We can’t control the world, but we can control how we think about it. /.../
/.../ At the time, psychologists assumed that children’s ability to wait depended on how badly they wanted the marshmallow. But it soon became obvious that every child craved the extra treat. What, then, determined self-control? Mischel’s conclusion, based on hundreds of hours of observation, was that the crucial skill was the “strategic allocation of attention.” Instead of getting obsessed with the marshmallow—the “hot stimulus”—the patient children distracted themselves by covering their eyes, pretending to play hide-and-seek underneath the desk, or singing songs from “Sesame Street.” Their desire wasn’t defeated—it was merely forgotten. “If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it,” Mischel says. “The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.
In adults, this skill is often referred to as metacognition, or thinking about thinking, and it’s what allows people to outsmart their shortcomings. /.../
Thinking back, would you have passed the Marshmallow Test as a kid?