The Marshmallow Test

David Brooks wrote an interesting piece two years ago on a marshmallow test given to four year olds:

Around 1970, Walter Mischel launched a classic experiment. He left a
succession of 4-year-olds in a room with a bell and a marshmallow. If they rang
the bell, he would come back and they could eat the marshmallow. If, however,
they didn't ring the bell and waited for him to come back on his own, they could
then have two marshmallows.

In videos of the experiment, you can see the children squirming, kicking,
hiding their eyes — desperately trying to exercise self-control so they can wait
and get two marshmallows. Their performance varied widely. Some broke down and
rang the bell within a minute. Others lasted 15 minutes.

The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores. They got
into better colleges and had, on average, better adult outcomes. The children
who rang the bell quickest were more likely to become bullies. They received
worse teacher and parental evaluations 10 years on and were more likely to have
drug problems at age 32.

And yet the Mischel experiments, along with everyday experience, tell us
that self-control is essential. Young people who can delay gratification can sit
through sometimes boring classes to get a degree. They can perform rote tasks in
order to, say, master a language. They can avoid drugs and alcohol.

For people without self-control skills, however, school is a series of
failed ordeals. No wonder they drop out. Life is a parade of foolish decisions:
teen pregnancy, drugs, gambling, truancy and crime.

I find this research to be pretty fascinating. My parents told me that when I applied to nursery school, they had two big parts of the interview. First, they talked to my parents to make sure that they were up to the socioeconomic expectations of a private school. The best way to find out what a three year old child will be like in 10 years is to look at their parents. The second part was just watching me listen to a story. Apparently I sat, listening intently, and that was good enough for them!