The Marshmallow Test

This test they did with 4 year olds.... They called it The Marshmallow test.
They got a lot of them, I don't know how many.
They told them that they could either have 1 marshmallow now
that they could eat right away, or if they waited, they could have 2.
Some waited, others couldn't wait.
It was to test their impulse control.

Impulse control is about 'resisting the impulse to act' on thoughts and emotions.
Mostly resisting the impulse to act on emotions.

So the test was to see if they could restrain their emotions,
"I really feel like eating that marshmallow."
And delaying their impulse to eat the marshmallow.

Here's a video about it

Some of them distracted themselves from staring at the temptation.
Teaching them that it's worth the wait to get 2 marshmallows.

So the ones who resisted:

- More socially competent
- Personally effective
- Self-assertive
- Better able to deal with frustrations
- Less likely to freeze, regress, become rattled or disorganized when pressure
- More likely to embrace and pursue challenges
- Less likely to give up even when faced with difficulties
- More self-reliant
- More confident
- More trustworthy and dependable
- Takes more initiative

The ones who grabbed the marshmallow had fewer of these qualities.
They shared more troubled 'psychological portraits.'

- Shy away from social contacts
- Stubborn and indecisive
- Easily upset by frustrations
- Think of themselves as 'bad' or 'unworthy'
- More likely to regress and become immobilized by stress
- Mistrustful and resentful about 'not getting enough'
- Prone to jealousy and envy
- Overreact to irritations with a 'sharp temper'
- Provoking arguments and fights
- Unable to put off gratification
- Pron to delinquency

Impulse control is an emotional skill.
It is an ability to delay gratification.
And gratification and satisfaction are two different things. Similar, yet different.
Impulse control can be learned.

It's being called: "goal directed, self-imposed, delay of gratification"
And it is said to be 'the essence of emotional regulation.

The ability to 'deny impulse' in the 'service of a goal.'
It determines how well or how poorly people can use
their other mental abilities and capacities.