Was The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment Accurate?

By Athena Corbishley

Via The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment Revisted on Pinterest

What Is the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment?

If you could eat one marshmallow now or two marshmallows but you have to wait, which would you pick? The Stanford Marshmallow experiment was conducted by Walter Mischel in the 1960's. The experiment aimed to test children's self-control and delayed gratification. 

Procedure

The procedure gathered a group of around 50 children and placed them in a room with a marshmallow. The children were told that once the experimenters left the room, they could eat the marshmallow, but they wouldn't get a second one. If the marshmallow was uneaten by the time the experimenter returned, they would be rewarded with a second one. The experimenters recorded which children ate the marshmallow and which waited. The experimenters followed the children into their teens and early adulthood. They gathered information like their cognitive abilities, standardized test scores, and overall health, etc. 

Findings

Mischel and his team found that the children who had waited for the second marshmallow achieved more overall success in their lives.

Students who did not eat the marshmallow had 

• Higher SAT/ACT scores
• Lower obesity rates
• better stress management
• higher education
• higher income
• lower levels of substance abuse

Fun Fact:  The CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojciki was one of the participants who didn't eat the marshmallow, and she waited the longest! 

Accuracy?

It is important to note that the study used a relatively small and not diverse group of children. In fact, researchers set out to find why some kids were able to wait while others couldn't. The experiment was redone, but it took into account family background. This time, they found that self-control didn't have a direct impact on their success. In reality, those who demonstrated self-control were more likely to be from a wealthier background, which would have more of an effect on their future. Psychologists assumed that children from poorer backgrounds would take the first marshmallow because they were used to instability and promises not being followed through. 

The studies also found that those who distracted themselves (by covering their eyes or singing) were able to wait the longest.