The Marshmallow Test

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76 – July, 2023

By Wayne Cavanaugh

The late Walter Mischel was a psychologist at Stanford who, in the 1970s, created a famous delayed-gratification experiment by watching children eat marshmallows.

Mischel placed one marshmallow on a table and told each child they could eat the treat now or wait and get two when he returned to the room. Delayed gratification–eat one treat immediately or wait and double the reward. He observed techniques such as singing and playing that some children tried to help them wait. He also tracked the children into adulthood and claimed that those who could not wait were, as adults, weaker in academic skills, had lower SAT scores, and more drug use and weight issues. “The Marshmallow Test” became one of the most popular psychological studies of his generation.

Subsequent studies continued to support Mischel’s work. However, his claims that the test forecasted future failure have been debunked. Primarily because the study assumed that humans think on their own, we know more now about how our social group and situation also affect our decisions. In our case, for example, being part of the dog show world affects the individual decisions we make. I’ve always thought that Mischel missed the boat by studying kids and marshmallows instead of the dog show world; we are a perfect example of the temptations of instant gratification and our collective failure to understand the rewards of delayed gratification.

As a sport, we increasingly want to win NOW! Delaying our gratification for the overall good of the dogs and the sport is not exactly our strong suit. We all too often eat the first marshmallow from a custom-made table built of red, white, and blue rosettes.

Click here to read the complete article
76 – July, 2023

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Posted by AnthonyA on Jul 9 2023. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.