“The more seconds they waited at age four or five, the higher their SAT scores and the better their rated social and cognitive functioning in adolescence. And their results showed that a young child’s ability to demonstrate self-control was predictive of his future success: They tracked these kids for years, even decades. What caught the public’s attention was the follow-up Mischel’s team did. 1 This, in and of itself, wasn’t very interesting. Some kids could wait, and some kids couldn’t, Most who couldn’t make it for 15 minutes tried to wait, but eventually caved and ate the treat. It was a test of self-control, a test of delayed gratification. The researcher says, “This is yours to eat whenever you like, but if you wait 15 minutes, I’ll give you a second one.” 1 On the table is a plate with one marshmallow on it. 1 So picture a preschooler, in a room with a researcher, sitting at a table. – but with a twist: The children would be promised a second treat if they could wait 15 minutes to eat the first. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, at Stanford, Walter Mischel and his team performed experiments in which kids would be offered a treat – a cookie, a pretzel, a marshmallow, etc. If you’ve never heard of the famous “Marshmallow Test,” let me describe it for you.
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