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!

 

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!

 

1...2...3...4...5.......19

Being mathematicians and teachers, Larry and I feel strongly that education is important.  We also think that it is important to study a subject you enjoy, yet also makes you employable. 

The picture is not about this entry.
It is Abigail jumping up and landing on her butt.

Abigail has a definite creative side.  She makes up games, is great at imaginary play, tells stories, creates "art" with great flourish and likes making things with her hands.  She certainly has picked up other concepts quickly too, such as identifying letters, colors, and shapes.  Abigail likes to be read to and also to "read" to herself.  

But we have been holding our breath because she hadn't shown any interest or ability in counting.  I could put before her 2 cookies and 3 cookies and ask "Abigail, do you want 1,2 cookies or do you want 1,2,3 cookies?"  And she would say "TWO" while taking the pile of 3 and count them 1, 2, 1.

For months, she counted 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2...  My dad tried to assure me that this just meant she understood binary and would be a good computer scientist.  But then I discovered that when counting things with her, if I provided the 3, she got past it and could count all the way up to 12 or 13.  

She had a 3 block!

So Larry and I worked with her diligently to get past her 3 block.  Everything that could be counted was counted.  She could analyze two piles of things and determine which had more, but she couldn't quantify it if it went beyond 3.  

But finally, this week Abigail began counting past her 3 block without help.  She even showed us that she can count to 19!

Suffice it to say, Larry and I are immensely relieved that Abigail has shown an interest in numbers and how they represent quantities of "stuff".  

(All jest aside, though, we do worry for her.  She is smart.  But she is also hard working.  She is a Chinese kid with 2 mathematical parents.  If she ends up being very talented in math, no one will give her credit for her hard work; they will just assume her success is due to her genetics or her environment.  If she is not good at math, people might say "What is wrong with you?  You are Chinese and can't do math?  Your parents are math teachers and you can't do math?"  I know that she is going to be judged by people based on how she looks.  We all are judged and, if we are being honest, we all judge others based on superficial things.  I just wish I could protect Abigail from that.  But for now, I can work with her and teach her and show her how to be proud of herself.  Just like I am so proud of her for getting past her 3 block and counting to 19!)

1...2...3...4...5.......19

Being mathematicians and teachers, Larry and I feel strongly that education is important.  We also think that it is important to study a subject you enjoy, yet also makes you employable. 

The picture is not about this entry.
It is Abigail jumping up and landing on her butt.

Abigail has a definite creative side.  She makes up games, is great at imaginary play, tells stories, creates "art" with great flourish and likes making things with her hands.  She certainly has picked up other concepts quickly too, such as identifying letters, colors, and shapes.  Abigail likes to be read to and also to "read" to herself.  

But we have been holding our breath because she hadn't shown any interest or ability in counting.  I could put before her 2 cookies and 3 cookies and ask "Abigail, do you want 1,2 cookies or do you want 1,2,3 cookies?"  And she would say "TWO" while taking the pile of 3 and count them 1, 2, 1.

For months, she counted 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2...  My dad tried to assure me that this just meant she understood binary and would be a good computer scientist.  But then I discovered that when counting things with her, if I provided the 3, she got past it and could count all the way up to 12 or 13.  

She had a 3 block!

So Larry and I worked with her diligently to get past her 3 block.  Everything that could be counted was counted.  She could analyze two piles of things and determine which had more, but she couldn't quantify it if it went beyond 3.  

But finally, this week Abigail began counting past her 3 block without help.  She even showed us that she can count to 19!

Suffice it to say, Larry and I are immensely relieved that Abigail has shown an interest in numbers and how they represent quantities of "stuff".  

(All jest aside, though, we do worry for her.  She is smart.  But she is also hard working.  She is a Chinese kid with 2 mathematical parents.  If she ends up being very talented in math, no one will give her credit for her hard work; they will just assume her success is due to her genetics or her environment.  If she is not good at math, people might say "What is wrong with you?  You are Chinese and can't do math?  Your parents are math teachers and you can't do math?"  I know that she is going to be judged by people based on how she looks.  We all are judged and, if we are being honest, we all judge others based on superficial things.  I just wish I could protect Abigail from that.  But for now, I can work with her and teach her and show her how to be proud of herself.  Just like I am so proud of her for getting past her 3 block and counting to 19!)

Our Little Bookworm

Lately the only "toys" Abigail (age 20 months) is interested in (besides Elmo and Grover) are books. She reads them for the half hour after she wakes up in the morning. She devours them at the Children's Museum. When we tell her we are going for a car ride around town, she runs to one of her piles of books and grabs one to read in the car and she spends the whole trip reading it. She gets so immersed in her books that she walks backwards until she bumps into something to sit on; she is probably usually hoping for one of us, but she'll use a chair, fireplace, or even stranger's lap (again at the Children's Museum) if it is a place she can read her book. She reads to us. We read to her. She reads to/with Grover and Elmo. We read after bath and before bedtime and she can't get enough. Of course, Larry and I are delighted beyond belief that we have a little nerd on our hands!!! It really makes the whole nature/nurture angle interesting.

Anyhow, this is how we found her this evening after she fell asleep:

Our Little Bookworm

Lately the only "toys" Abigail (age 20 months) is interested in (besides Elmo and Grover) are books. She reads them for the half hour after she wakes up in the morning. She devours them at the Children's Museum. When we tell her we are going for a car ride around town, she runs to one of her piles of books and grabs one to read in the car and she spends the whole trip reading it. She gets so immersed in her books that she walks backwards until she bumps into something to sit on; she is probably usually hoping for one of us, but she'll use a chair, fireplace, or even stranger's lap (again at the Children's Museum) if it is a place she can read her book. She reads to us. We read to her. She reads to/with Grover and Elmo. We read after bath and before bedtime and she can't get enough. Of course, Larry and I are delighted beyond belief that we have a little nerd on our hands!!! It really makes the whole nature/nurture angle interesting.

Anyhow, this is how we found her this evening after she fell asleep:

Second Week of Summer Break

Abigail loved the Gulf Breeze Zoo. It has a petting area and also a small area of regular zoo animals such as tigers and various monkeys and safari animals. It is pitiful compared to the natural habitat of the Pittsburgh Zoo, but Abigail loved it so much that we took her there 2 days in a row! The first day she wanted to be carried the whole time (I didn't mind obliging her!) but the second day she was old hat at this adventure and bravely led the way!

Lar and I were both really surprised at how much she really seemed to get out of the experience. She talked more than usual, tried to say the names of all the animals, and made their sounds (I hope to have a very adorable tiger roar video posted by the end of the week). When the monkeys were swinging back and forth on their ropes, she kept telling them "more please" and as we left each animal to go to the next one, she would say "bye bye monkeys" or "bye bye emus", blow them kisses and eagerly look to see what was next. Her favorite animals were the water buffalo (she kept mooing at it), the monkeys, and the goats.

This little kid just soaks up information and is always eager to learn more. She is so amazing. I wish that older kids and grown ups could all be as eager to learn as she is: our country would be a very different place if that was possible!

Second Week of Summer Break

Abigail loved the Gulf Breeze Zoo. It has a petting area and also a small area of regular zoo animals such as tigers and various monkeys and safari animals. It is pitiful compared to the natural habitat of the Pittsburgh Zoo, but Abigail loved it so much that we took her there 2 days in a row! The first day she wanted to be carried the whole time (I didn't mind obliging her!) but the second day she was old hat at this adventure and bravely led the way!

Lar and I were both really surprised at how much she really seemed to get out of the experience. She talked more than usual, tried to say the names of all the animals, and made their sounds (I hope to have a very adorable tiger roar video posted by the end of the week). When the monkeys were swinging back and forth on their ropes, she kept telling them "more please" and as we left each animal to go to the next one, she would say "bye bye monkeys" or "bye bye emus", blow them kisses and eagerly look to see what was next. Her favorite animals were the water buffalo (she kept mooing at it), the monkeys, and the goats.

This little kid just soaks up information and is always eager to learn more. She is so amazing. I wish that older kids and grown ups could all be as eager to learn as she is: our country would be a very different place if that was possible!