Marshmallow Kids

how taking a treat righway might be detrimental to your development

Taking a treat is innocent enough, a kid asks and you give one or two back there was something to be learnt from how children take the treat and what becomes of them when they do take that treat a certain way. In a study done on kids given marshmallows the ones that took a marshmallow ow right away after being offered it scored badly compared to those that waited after a certain amount of time. The ability of the child to wait his turn or be patient when asking for something became a determining factor for understanding how they are better able to deal with challenging circumstances.

The child who waited and did not grab the marshmallows right away was found to be generally more successful in the business world, he was able to make decisions and had less difficulty surmounting challenges that life brought. The child who could not wait and was rather impulsive when offered the treat was found to be more indecisive in life. He had less success in the business world and was less able to keep a job. Researchers then surmised that the lack of success was due to an impulsiveness and inability to focus on another thing similar to that experienced by the youngster when faced with the opportunity of eating a marshmallow now or later.

In the experiment the youngster would have been rewarded two had he waited an allotted amount of time but would only receive one if he were impatient. Years later researchers tracked down the same people and found that being impulsive then translated into not holding interest in ones labors and lacking focus in later life. They determined that the persons who were patient knew that rewar to be better achieved through patience and perseverance and those were the people more likely to keep their employment and advance in their careers.

One can always think of how it is easy to take a holiday right away when it is offered to you instead of thinking of going at a later date; being able to finish what work there was left to do, so that when you do go on holiday the thought of an incomplete itinerary is not on your mind and you can really enjoy that vacation. Such a person may not fall in the category of being as impulsive as the kid with the marshmallow but the study makes you think about how our minds work when we need to be gratified right away or not.