Is The Marshmallow Test A Myth?

 

1. Delaying Gratification

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Image source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Could you wait to eat a piece of chocolate cake if you knew you would receive an extra piece of cake in twenty minutes?

2. The Marshmallow Test

Evelyn Rose, 4 of Brighton, NY participates in an update of the classic "Stanford marshmallow experiment" studying the implications of delayed gratification at the University of Rochester Baby Lab September 6, 2012. // photo by J. Adam Fenster / University of Rochester
Image source: discovermagazine.com

Known as the Marshmallow Test, in the 1960s, Walter Mischel offered preschoolers one marshmallow immediately or two if they waited to eat the first. After following up with the preschoolers years later, Mischel found that those who waited were more successful in school and in life and they were more healthy, ironically. “Delaying gratification” was hailed as the hero, but new research pins the ribbon on a different factor that determined the better long-term outcomes.