Summary: The Marshmallow Experiment
Introduction:
The marshmallow experiment is one of the best-known studies in psychology that was conducted in the late 1960’s by an Australian-born clinical psychologist Walter Mischel at Stanford University. Back then, the study tested over 600 nursery kids and this experiment has been existing and continuously conducted by researchers until now. The instruction was that the children could eat one marshmallow immediately or if they could wait they would receive two marshmallows later. The purpose of the study was to understand their ability to wait to receive something that they choose to receive, it is about self-control. In a recent study that was conducted by Kidd, Palmeri, Aslin in the year of 2013, which was inspired by the study back in 1960’s by Dr. Walter Mischel, the study shows that being …show more content…
The children in the unreliable environment waited for 3 minutes while the children were able to wait for 12 minutes. Most of the children said they would wait, when the researchers asked them if they will wait or not. Some of them failed in doing so, because they could not resist the pull of temptation for even a minute. So as soon as the researcher left the room to get the other treat, they immediately consumed the marshmallow.
Most of the children on the other hand were able to wait for an average of less than three minutes to consume the marshmallow, they tried to wait as long as they could but it was very difficult for them to delay their gratification. And some used different ways to distract themselves like covering their eyes, kicking the desk, turning around to sing and they were trying as hard as they could to occupy their minds with something else. Out of all the 14 children in the unreliable environment there was only one who was able to wait for the full 15
The marshmallow experiment is one of the best-known studies in psychology that was conducted in the late 1960’s by an Australian-born clinical psychologist Walter Mischel at Stanford University. Back then, the study tested over 600 nursery kids and this experiment has been existing and continuously conducted by researchers until now. The instruction was that the children could eat one marshmallow immediately or if they could wait they would receive two marshmallows later. The purpose of the study was to understand their ability to wait to receive something that they choose to receive, it is about self-control. In a recent study that was conducted by Kidd, Palmeri, Aslin in the year of 2013, which was inspired by the study back in 1960’s by Dr. Walter Mischel, the study shows that being …show more content…
The children in the unreliable environment waited for 3 minutes while the children were able to wait for 12 minutes. Most of the children said they would wait, when the researchers asked them if they will wait or not. Some of them failed in doing so, because they could not resist the pull of temptation for even a minute. So as soon as the researcher left the room to get the other treat, they immediately consumed the marshmallow.
Most of the children on the other hand were able to wait for an average of less than three minutes to consume the marshmallow, they tried to wait as long as they could but it was very difficult for them to delay their gratification. And some used different ways to distract themselves like covering their eyes, kicking the desk, turning around to sing and they were trying as hard as they could to occupy their minds with something else. Out of all the 14 children in the unreliable environment there was only one who was able to wait for the full 15