The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment

If you are unfamiliar with the study mentioned in the title of this entry, basically it worked like this:

• a 4-year-old would be seated at a table and given a marshmallow and no other distractions
• the child was told that s/he could have 2 marshmallows when the adult returned if s/he did not eat that one
• researchers watched from behind a 1 way mirror and timed how long it was before kids broke down and ate their marshmallow
• some kids (about a third) ate it as soon as the adult left; other third were able to wait as long as 15 or twenty minutes- just staring down their marshmallow, waiting for the promised bonus marshmallow when the adult returned
• this was a longitudinal study; when the kids were examined in several 10 year follow ups, the kids who had the ability to delay their gratification as a kid had higher SAT scores, were described by their parents more often as "competent", and had more successful marriages and fulfilling careers while the kids who could not delay their gratification were not as successful in all measures of their lives

Larry and I have noticed that Abigail, while only 2 years old, is able to delay her gratification.  I am not sure why, but this is not something we taught her.  (I don't think you can teach this.)

For example, recently I stopped by Dunkin' Donuts while running some Saturday morning errands.  (I love the iced coffee, no sugar.)  I bought Abigail 1 doughnut Munchkin and she received it an a tiny brown bag.  When I bucked her into her car seat I did not take the bag from her but as we drove home, she opened the bag.  I said to her "Abigail, please wait and eat that doughnut at home."  She said okay.  When I looked in the mirror, I saw her sitting patiently, cupping her Munchkin in her hands, just looking at it and waiting.  She made it all the way home (about 8 - 10 minutes).

Another example is when she eats a candy or treat, she eats it very slowly.  She likes a certain coconut cookie.  When she gets one, she walks around holding it to her nose and sniffing it for ages before she will eat it.  She can make 1 cookie last an hour.  She can also suck on a tic tac until it just dissolves and disappears.  Her Aunt Steph and Uncle Jim gave her an Easter basket and she also can do the same thing to a jelly bean.  It took her an hour to eat 3 Jelly- Bellies today.

 

I don't know if this means that Abigail has the personality and demeanor to be a "work hard and achieve success" kind of person.  (It certainly runs in the family- all HWPK's reading, this if for you!) I don't know if all of this is technically delayed gratification (although I do think the doughnut thing was for sure).  She does continue to amaze us all the time and we love her and are so proud of her!