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DELAYED GRATIFICATION
Predicting Your Child’s Success — Why the Marshmallow Test Is Toast
And why it was still one of the best things I did with my kid
On Jamie’s 18th birthday
I sat him down in front of the television and played him a dusty video of his three-year-old self. He burst out laughing so hard — tears rolled down his cheeks.
In the classic experiment from the 1970s, psychologist Walter Mischel placed a small treat in front of young children. He offered them a choice; they could either enjoy the treat immediately or wait a brief period and earn two sweet treats instead.
When Mischel left the room, many children couldn’t wait; they ate the treat (often a cookie or marshmallow). But a portion of these guinea pig kids delayed their urge to enjoy the treat. The reward for their patience — more delicious goodies.
From observations of their later lives, Mischel concluded that the children who delayed gratification displayed several advantages over the children who could not wait. They performed better academically and had fewer behavioural problems than the kids who ate the treat right away.
He concluded that kids who display delayed gratification were more likely to be…
