What do marshmallows and success have in common?  It’s called the ‘Marshmallow Test’  conducted at Stanford University  and is considered one of the most successful behavioral experiments for children, ever.

The purpose of the study was to understand when, the ability to defer gratification (or wait to obtain something that one wants) develops in children.  This experiment was first conducted in 1972 by a psychologist named Walter Mischel of Stanford.  Using 600 children ages 4-6, administrators led each child individually to an empty room, free of any distraction and offered them a marshmallow on the table.   The child could eat the marshmallow but if they waited for fifteen minutes, without giving in to the temptation, they would be rewarded with a second marshmallow when the administrator came back into the room.

The scientists would then observe to see how long each child resisted the temptation to eat the marshmallow and see if there was a correlation between eating the marshmallow and  future success.

A minority ate the marshmallow immediately. Of those who attempted to delay, one third deferred gratification long enough to get the second marshmallow.  Age was a major determinant of deferred gratification.

Here’s the interesting part of this whole experiment.  

The kids who delayed eating the marshmallow, scored on average 200 points higher on their college entrance exams.  They had fewer problems with aggression, and less vulnerable to risky behaviours.   Essentially, the marshmallow test was an opportunity to monitor a child’s ability to self regulate.  Self Regulation  or rather the lack of, is thought to be linked to lower educational outcomes, disease and a host of other problems.

If you’re wondering how they came to that conclusion….

In the original test, almost all of the original test subjects were monitored throughout the years and Mischel discovered there existed an unexpected correlation between the results of the marshmallow test, and the success of the children many years later.  The first follow-up study, in 1988, showed that “preschool children who delayed gratification longer, were described more than 10 years later by their parents as adolescents who were significantly more competent”.  A second follow-up study, in 1990, showed that the ability to delay gratification also correlated with higher SAT scores.  A 2011 study of the same participants  showed that the characteristic remains with the person for life.   Additionally, brain imaging showed key differences between the two groups in two areas: the pre-frontal (more active in high delayers) and the ventral striatum (an area linked to addictions).

Stuart Shanker a Professor at York University, speaks about this at length and states that this type of test is a better indicator of school success than IQ.

He defines self regulation as the “ability to control physical, behavioral, and mental impulses.” Shanker states that “Between 25 and 50 percent of kids coming into Grade 1 have trouble with self-regulation, a problem that experts eventually link to everything from drug abuse to poor education outcomes and risky behaviour later in life, this is the key to why some kids are struggling.A child’s ability to stay focused in class, not daydream or get up and talk to friends, can be improved through participation in music, drama, sports, and by reading, but television and video games can impede self-regulation.”

My two kids are between the ages of 4-6.  Out of sheer curiosity, I was very keen to try this test out with them and I am looking for the right opportunity to do so.  If this is something that you’re curious about as well, don’t worry if you feel a bit nervous….because I feel it too.  🙂  Having said that,  no matter what the outcome,  I see this as an empirical study that I’m curious about and  not something that will relegate my kids to a lifetime of hardship.  At the very least, it might help me identify or flag areas that I can help my kids with.

If you are going to try it, then there is something that I feel is important to consider for this test.  

I realize that if I were to do this test with the kids, the outcome could be very skewed.   The reason for this is as follows, how my kids relate to both my husband and I will influence how seriously the kids take the test.  Secondly, my kids would not be in a empty unfamiliar office free of distractions because they would most likely be in their own familiar home.  I’m also not a stranger in a lab coat…who may  garner more attention and compliance from my daughter or son.  Lastly, I must confess, I have been known (albeit seldom)  to give in to a treat, even after I’ve said No!   So are these kids EVEN going to take the marshmallow test seriously??

Either way, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this and would love to hear if you did try this experiment and what was the outcome.  So please leave a comment!

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8 Comments

  1. Thanks for the article, definitely a compelling study I’d like to conduct on my children, not because I think it’ll stifle their growth if they fail, or they’ll be rock star kids if they pass, but more so to add to my portfolio of developmental tools I can try while raising my kids. I’m glad I’m not the only parent who’ve told their kid ‘NO’ but later on I relented to their masterful negotiation skills.

  2. I didn’t even read the whole post but I know the study, and I just wanted to say that recently when we pick up coffee at dunkin donuts we’ll often get 1 munchkin for my 3.5 year old daughter. She knows she gets 1 and she’ll sometimes take 10 minutes to eat it! Just taking off tiny little bites at a time and enjoying it. I don’t think I could do that if you paid me.

  3. I witnessed Austin’s self regulation in action today…. after his sunday morning sports class, his teacher handed out smarties to each kid. He asked if he can eat some I said yes, fully expecting him to eat the entire box (which had approx 10-12 smarties).
    We went to get groceries after the class so during the ride there, he gives me back the box and says — “I already ate 6 smarties mommy. I’m going to save the rest for halloween.” I said to Austin — “it’s ok honey, you can finish all of it, you’ll get plenty more in a few days when trick or treating happens for real.” But my little man insisted on saving the rest (4 pieces left!). We shopped for about 30 minutes and he held on to that box, never wavering on his position that he’s going to save the rest for halloween.
    Love how their brilliant minds work!

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