The Marshmallow Test
Self-control is the main determinant of person's success that comes from the very childhood. It is the gift that people either possess or not, but those who managed to realize its importance can also develop this quality in themselves. However, Walter Mischel argues, those who possess it from birth have better chances to succeed in all the spheres of their lives. They are just more likely to appoint correct goals and be more persistent and patient to achieve them. However, many modern scholars criticize his point of view. They insist that personal success depends on various factors, while self-control is only one and not the most important of them. At present, the concept of strategic reasoning is often opposed to the concept …show more content…
Thus, Joseph Kable and Joseph McGuire decided to reconstruct the test to draw their own conclusion. Kable confessed that the children's behavior during the experiment had always puzzled him, “the kids’ responses seem illogical — if you decided to wait in the first place, why wouldn’t you wait the whole way through?” (Lerner) The results of the research gave him the answer: the point was that the children simply did not know how much time they were to wait until the adult returned. Kable thinks this small detail is highly important. When people know exactly what time they need to wait, each other minute makes them nearer to their goal. But, “if you don’t know anything about when the outcome will occur, the longer you wait the more you think you're getting farther and farther away from that outcome” (Lerner). Walter Mischel must have informed the children about the time of delay. In Mischel's test, it was uncertainty, not children's self-control or willpower, that played a crucial role, and under these circumstances self-control was not properly …show more content…
The results showed that all children could be patient if they considered the waiting appropriate and reasonable. Kidd and Aslin proved that even so young children can successfully use their rational thinking ability, while Walter Mischel did not take this fact into account. Researchers divided children in two groups, called the 'reliable' and 'unreliable' group. The expectations of the children from the unreliable group had been deceived for several times: the adults gave them crayons and pencils and promised to give them more if the children would agree to wait a few minutes. But when the adults returned they did not bring other art supplies. Unlike them, the children from the reliable group got the promised materials. This experiment was followed by the Marshmallow Test, and predictably, the children from the reliable group were more likely to get their delayed reward. As a result, the research shows that “delaying gratification is only the rational choice if the child believes a second marshmallow is likely to be delivered after a reasonably short delay.” ("The Marshmallow Study Revisited”) Children are able to adjust their behavior to particular situation, which proves their logical reasoning rather than the lack of