Date Posted:10:55:19 09/19/03 Fri Author: Sage, shrink-in-residence Author Host/IP: qam1c-sif-70.monroeaccess.net / 12.27.215.71 Subject: The results of the test (you knew it was coming) In reply to:
LArcenous Lion - Marshmallow Lover
's message, "Re: The Marshmallow Test" on 15:22:31 09/16/03 Tue
The 4-year olds who were originally given this test back in the 60s were the children of Stanford U faculty, graduate students, and other employees. Although they only had to wait 15 to 20 minutes, some of these kids showed remarkable powers. They covered their eyes or rested their heads on their arms so they wouldn't have to look at the marshmallows. They talked to themselves, played games with their hands and feet, or even tried to go to sleep. They got two marshmallows. The other children grabbed their one marshmallow the instant the experimenter left the room.
These children were tracked down in high school and there was an enormous difference between the ones who'd grabbed the one and those who'd waited for the two. The ones who'd resisted temptation were more socially competent, personally effective, self-assertive, and better able to cope with the frustrations of life. They were less likely to go to pieces, freeze, or regress under stress, or become rattled and disorgainized under pressure; they embraced challenges and pursued them instead of giving up in the face of difficulties; they were self-reliant and confident, trustworthy and dependable; and they took initiative and plunged into projects. More than a decade later, they were still able to delay gratification in pusuit of their goals.
The third or so who grabbed for the marshamllow had fewer of these qualities and shared a troubled psychological portrait. They were more likely to shy away from social contacts; to be stubborn and indecisive; to be easily upset by frustrations; to think of themselves as "bad" or unworthy; to regress or become immobilized by stress; to be mistrustful and resentful about not "getting enough"; to be prone to jealousy and envy; to overreact to irritations with a sharp temper, so provoking fights and arguments. And after all these years, they were still unable to put off gratification.
The other third were in the lion's group. :P********
