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Sophia Villarreal
CP English 12
Fredrick White
November 20, 2015
A Question of Marshmallows
During my junior year, I gave a an impromptu speech to my English class that argued the
importance of self control and the influence it has on the quality of life. By sheer luck, the night
before I had read up on an experiment on the topic of self control. Since I was the only student
who had anything to cite or reference, my speech was a great success. Since then I have always
held a soft spot for the subject. My senior project attempts to find a correlation between the
psychological concept of delay of gratification, or simply self control, and academic
performance. I will attempt to survey parents of young children concerning their childs ability to
delay, and compare those results with the childs report card. The concept of delay of
gratification arose when Walter Mischel performed an investigation on young children and their
ability to delay. This was the very study I had referenced in my speech. For this project, I must
research the original experiment, the definitions of delay of gratification, the negative and
positive consequences of delay, how it can be changed, and the methods and procedures to
conducting a scientific survey.

Origins and Concepts

In Mischels original study (1970), pre kindergarten children were left alone in a room
with a marshmallow (or other tasty treat) on a plate in front of them. The children were given the
choice to eat the marshmallow now, or wait for the examiner to return and be given a second one.
The childrens results had a wide range, with some waiting ten minutes before giving in while

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others caved almost immediately. However some children actually did manage to wait the full
fifteen to twenty minutes for the examiner to return (Brooks)(Mischel 1970). Mischel (1970)
dubbed this skill of resisting temptation as delay of gratification.
He defined delayed gratification as the ability to resist the allurement of an instant reward
and wait for a later, more desirable reward (Mischel 1992). Or as Peake puts it, putting off an
immediate but less desirable reward in favor of a more attractive but distant outcome. This is not
a trait unique to children, or even humans as a whole. The choice of trade offs in immediate or
future rewards as one experienced by all organisms (Stevens).

Significance
So whats the significance? Mischels study (and many others testing this same behavior)
did not end with the marshmallow. The study actually followed the children throughout their
lives. And they found, statistically, that those who could not resist the call of temptation ran into
some trouble as they grew older. As the study of Caldwell showed, regret and the ability delay
were significantly related. Bullies arose the most from the children who rang the bell earlier
(Brooks). There have also been links drawn from obesity and delay. The ability to resist
temptation was associated with a persons body mass index (BMI). In Bruces study of an obesity
intervention, those with higher BMIs were more likely to spend their money recklessly. Bruce
found that even for non-food related incentives, obese children were less capable of delaying
than healthy weight children.
But what about the kids who could resist? The ability or control the calls of temptation
for a simple marshmallow was linked to the success of the children in their adult lives (Mischel
1989). Academically the children in Mischels original study scored higher on the SATs
(Brooks). They also were more able to handle problems in their social and personal lives

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(Walter).They had higher acceptance into better colleges and had overall better adult outcomes
(Brooks).

Application
Now the better question, is what can be done. Mischel (1989) proposed the idea that later
developmental risks such as school failure could be preemptively combatted by teaching the
delay of gratification. Putnam explains how it may prove beneficial to educate parents on the
concept of delayed gratification in hopes for them to encourage self-restraint behavior in their
children. The ability to delay is influenced through social factors such as the behavior of those
around them (Mischel 1989). The skill of delay of gratification is not an innate one, and is likely
developed and enhanced by the childs guardians behavior, as well as being exposed to situations
requiring self-control (Putnam).
An effective strategy observed was using distraction. Despite their young age the children
showed use of strategies to try and last the time required to get the second marshmallow. They
squirmed, they kicked, and most significantly, they covered their eyes to try and ignore the
marshmallow for the time being (Brooks). Directing their focus to other stimuli allowed the
children to better avoid touching the prohibited object (Mischel 1974). According to Peake the
function of delay time varies by the amount of distractions. Focusing on the reward makes it
harder for one to resist (Peake). Even in a working situation paying attention to the reward still
undermines delay. However directing ones attention to abstract, informative features has the
opposite effect (Brooks). As Houser discovered, adults in grocery market lines the longer one
was exposed to the tempting object, the more likely they are to purchase it. In Mischels (1974)
original experiment, directing their focus to other stimuli allowed the children to better avoid
touching the prohibited object.

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Adults also have a significant influence on a childs behavior. A mothers presence

doesnt always help, in fact, it sometimes increases the childs misbehavior (Putnam). In Stevens
investigation concerning bonobos, a more unreliable experimenter would make the bonobos less
likely to delay. The more traditional method of parenting, which involves discipline in response
to bad behavior we actually proven to be less effective than preemptively engaging the child in
conversation. Thus children who simply had their attention manipulated by the adult were less
likely to break rules and more likely to behave appropriately. The tactic of reactionary discipline
had a much higher chance of misbehavior (Putnam). Both parent and child have an influence on
each other (Putnam). A childs presence makes it harder for an adult to resist temptation in an
environment like a grocery line (Houser).

Execution
In order to perform this project the nature of the procedure must be understood.
According to Bradley, a survey involves questioning a large group of people about their attitudes,
beliefs, etc. Surveys are a common method of acquiring data about an entire population by
questioning a smaller sample (Kurt). Theyre a measurement process that involves asking
questions of respondents (Alford). In a survey, there must be a phenomena that will be observed
or recorded (Woolf). In the case of this project, it is the ability for a child to delay. The survey
will be a questionnaire, in which the respondent completes on paper and pencil or online, and the
data collected will be behavior related (Alford). Due to the lack of budget, the survey will be a
simple convenience survey, where volunteers from a class or classes will be surveyed (Woolf).
This is also known as non-probability sampling (Alford). For the external validity of the survey,
this is determined by the ability to generalize the survey to other times, places, and people

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(Woolf). For the conclusional validity of the survey, the variables under the study must be related
(Woolf).
To execute the survey the essential steps and processes have to be understood. The goals
must be specific and clear (Kurt). In other words, the questions must be easily understood by the
respondents (Alford). The wording and survey length and the population being studied must
match (Kurt) and also in a way that will prevent confusion or bias (Bradley). Thus it must be
kept at a 5th grade reading level, be simple and to the point, avoiding highly technical language,
and avoiding double negatives (Alford). The procedure should not adversely affect cooperation
(Kurt). If asked vocally, the surveyors must make sure they ask the question/s the same way
every time to every respondent (Kurt). It is essential to obtain informed consent from the
respondents and assure that the questions do not invade their privacy (Alford). In the final report
the purpose of the study, its objectives, the survey and exact wording, and a description of the
population and sample frame used must be included. Possible sources of error and flaws in the
procedure have to be listed (Kurt).
So what are the advantages of conducting a survey? As mentioned before, it is usually too
expensive to survey an entire population. Its not impossible, as the U.S. conducts a census every
decade or so. But the average researcher, especially a high school senior, does not have that kind
of money (Woolf). In a survey they are relatively easy to conduct and thus require only resources
that are available to a high school student (Kurt). Surveys are also better for sensitive issues
(which parenting vs. academic performance could possibly be) (Alford).
Surveys however do come with considerable disadvantages. In fact, some researches
would advise alternatives in collecting data (Kurt). This is mainly because surveys do not carry
significant credibility within the scientific community. In-depth knowledge is difficult to obtain

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and respondents are not always honest and open to the researches (Bradley). The nature of the
survey makes it susceptible to errors of non-response, and a limited amount of choices (Kurt).
The demographic being surveyed is also very limited. Mostly white, upper middle class citizens
in a single hometown do not represent the rest of the U.S. (Bradley).

Conclusion
I now have a thorough understanding of the concepts and history behind the project,
adding to the knowledge I had when I gave my speech over a year ago. I understand the full
significance the concepts have on human nature and society, essentially answering the question:
Why does it matter? I also answer the question: So what? I understand what can be applied to
modern life with the newfound knowledge. And finally, I know the procedures and requirements
necessary to pull off the project. With the above research, I will hopefully have the tools I need
to better execute the project at hand, and maybe be even better prepared to give impromptu
speeches in English.

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Works Cited
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Bradley, Magan E. "Research Methods: Cyberlab for Psychological Research." Research
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Brooks, David. Marshmallows and Public Policy. The New York Times (2006): 3. (Brooks
2006).
Bruce, Amanda S., William R. Black, Jared M. Bruce, Marina Daldalian, Laura E. Martin, and
Ann M. Davis. "Ability to Delay Gratification and BMI in Preadolescence." Ability to
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Definition of Delay of gratification
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2015.
Johnson, Kurt. "Best Practice Considerations Checklist." Survey Research Center (2011): n. pag.
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18 Sept. 2015.
Mischel, W., & Ebbesen, E. B. (1970). Attention in delay of gratification. Journal of Personality
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Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. L. (1989). Delay of gratification in children. Science,
244, 933-938. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. L. (1992). Delay of gratification in children.
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over time (pp. 147-164). New York: Russel-Sage. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
Peake, Philip K., Michelle Hebl, and Walter Mischel. "Strategic Attention Deployment for Delay
of Gratification in Working and Waiting Situations." Rice University. American
Psychological Association, 23 Oct. 2001. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Putnam, Samuel P., Becky L. Spritz, and Synthia A. Stifter. "MotherChild Coregulation During
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Stevens, Jeffrey R., Alexandra G. Rosati, Sarah R. Heilbronner, and Nelly Mhlhoff. "Waiting
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Comparative Psychology, (2011): 99-111. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.

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Woolf, Linda M. Resource Methods. Webmaster, August, 2015. Web. 17 September 2015.