Comments on: The Marshmallow Test Gets More Complicated

By: Erudite

Erudite — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:40:48 +0000

Hilarious. Let’s create a test to validate the less patient so they don’t feel bad about themselves. Our society of “everyone gets a trophy” continues…

By: BLegg

BLegg — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:23:15 +0000

I think you’re right on the mark Ed. I’d be very interested to see results of this test from 50 years ago, 40 years ago, etc up to today. It’s too late now but I’d guess you would see less and less patience shown. Society has become much more instant and this can be seen in children as young as 3. If your 3 year old is hungry don’t you just whip out a bag of pre-made snacks out of your pocket/purse and give it to them immediately? It’s expected. I highly doubt this was the case even 50 years ago, waiting was a bigger part of life.

By: Marti Hokans

Marti Hokans — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:29:32 +0000

I think the first two comments about actually wanting the marshmallow are on point. Newsweek reviewed this test a few years back and spoke to the mother of one who ate the first marshmallow. Worried that she might be raising a child with “issues”, she sat down to have a talk about it and was told: “I don’t like them all that much so one was plenty.”
I think this test should have been done with a big fishbowl of Halloween candy assortments. Let the child choose one and then proceed with the test. Waiting for a reward of your choice could make a big difference too. I know it would for me. The only way I ever liked marshmallows was in s’mores or floating on hot cocoa.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:53:23 +0000

I wonder if this isn’t a result of a culture in which everyone expects (demands?) instant gratification. Now you have always on communications by cell/smart phone and internet access to everything in the world. Want to watch TV; there’s 500 channels available, half of which promise you can have it all. You want something, go on line with your credit card and you can have it tomorrow and not worry about paying for it until the future. Why wait when you can have it now and later. I would be curious if they looked at how connected were these kids and their families? I would suspect that even kids in a shelter are not immune to this.

By: Katkinkate

Katkinkate — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 05:32:41 +0000

Also, what if the kid doesn’t really like marshmellows? It was quite a while ago now, but I think when I was that young, I could probably control myself over marshmellows, but if they offered chocolate, I’d have a harder time being patient. Although I may have managed it out of greed.

By: Matt Houston

Matt Houston — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:34:45 +0000

What about the child who really doesn’t want a second marshmallow? Did the test factor this in?