If you didn't already get a marshmallow as you came in the door, please get one from either Ms. McKay or one of her assistants.
If you wait to eat it until later to eat it, I will give you another marshmallow. Whether you eat it or wait is your choice.
First Day - Activity - Don't Eat the Marshmallow Yet!
Overview:
Inspired by: http://www.allthings.io/blog/productivity/dont-eat-the-marshmallow-the-art-of-the-not-to-do-list/
There’s this famous psychological experiment that tested impulse control in children. It was conducted by Stanford University in the 1960s. The kids were presented with one marshmallow and told that if they waited and didn’t eat the marshmallow they would receive two marshmallows. If they ate it, they would only eat that lone marshmallow. The experiment showed that the children who resisted the marshmallow were happier, had better results at school and were generally more successful. But what’s this got to do with productivity?
The main finding of the marshmallow test, according to Joachim de Posada who gave an excellent Ted Talk on the subject, was that the ability to delay gratification was the key to success. He also makes the fabulous point that telling a child to wait for 15 minutes and not eat a marshmallow is equivalent to telling us (“adults”) that your coffee will arrive in two hours.
This success was evident in the follow-up study which was conducted 10 - 15 years later. They found that 100% of the children that hadn’t eaten the marshmallow were successful. ‘Successful’ in this sense meant that that they had good grades, were deemed happy and had good relationships with teachers and fellow students. 100%! Compared to the children who ate the marshmallow straight away, they could also manage their stress levels more effectively and were less likely to have problems with their weight.
So what happened to those who did eat the marshmallow? According to de Posada, “they were in trouble”. They didn’t make it to university, their grades weren’t as good and some of them had dropped out of school. However, some of the kids, he states, had good grades.
There’s this famous psychological experiment that tested impulse control in children. It was conducted by Stanford University in the 1960s. The kids were presented with one marshmallow and told that if they waited and didn’t eat the marshmallow they would receive two marshmallows. If they ate it, they would only eat that lone marshmallow. The experiment showed that the children who resisted the marshmallow were happier, had better results at school and were generally more successful. But what’s this got to do with productivity?
The main finding of the marshmallow test, according to Joachim de Posada who gave an excellent Ted Talk on the subject, was that the ability to delay gratification was the key to success. He also makes the fabulous point that telling a child to wait for 15 minutes and not eat a marshmallow is equivalent to telling us (“adults”) that your coffee will arrive in two hours.
This success was evident in the follow-up study which was conducted 10 - 15 years later. They found that 100% of the children that hadn’t eaten the marshmallow were successful. ‘Successful’ in this sense meant that that they had good grades, were deemed happy and had good relationships with teachers and fellow students. 100%! Compared to the children who ate the marshmallow straight away, they could also manage their stress levels more effectively and were less likely to have problems with their weight.
So what happened to those who did eat the marshmallow? According to de Posada, “they were in trouble”. They didn’t make it to university, their grades weren’t as good and some of them had dropped out of school. However, some of the kids, he states, had good grades.
Discussion:
- Are you a marshmallow eater or a resister?
- Are you in the majority or minority of the population?
- What are the advantages of being a marshmallow resister? What are the disadvantages of being a marshmallow eater?
- Do you feel that the amount of time, 15 minutes, was a good choice? Predict what you think might have happened with more time or less time left alone with the marshmallow.
- Do you think you would have been able to last 15 minutes alone in the room with the marshmallow at 4 years of age without eating it?
- Did your focus on the marshmallow impact your ability to follow the rest of the discussion?
- What can a person do to change from being a marshmallow eater to a marshmallow resister?
- What does Joachim de Posada believe is the most important principle for success?
- Reflect on the importance of self regulation and delayed gratification? Why do you think mastering delayed self-gratification as a child allows for more success later in life?
- Would your opinion differ if the promised reward was more significant ($25, 5% bonus marks)?
- How did you feel when:
- People around you ate the marshmallow?
- You discovered there were rewards / punishments you didn't originally know about?
- People around you ate the marshmallow?
- Do you agree with the speaker suggestion that the marshmallow theory (that a student's willingness to eat the marshmallow) is a prediction of their future success? Justify your opinion.