Could you stare at a marshmallow and not eat it if it meant getting TWO marshmallows just for waiting? It’s hard when you’re a little kid! This cute video is a recreation of a well-known experiment by psychologist Walter Mischel. Link
Fran
That was so cute!
Mitch
I want to have more fun with it. Tell the kids they're going to get another marshmallow if they wait. Then, if they don't eat it, take it away and say "I lied."
Video Game Dork
i was thinking they might give two and say "you can eat them now, or i'll bring you back two more, for a total of four!" and keep doing that (doubling) until they gave in.
xaver
torture porn
Matt
Now that was a bit disappointing! What happened to all the other kids? Did they all wait? How happy were they to get the reward? Why stop the video in the middle of it? I feel cheated ...
Lana
There's a TED lecture about this (ted.com) that was done , they show and speak about the original marshmallow experiment, apparently, they followed up with the kids 14 years later and the kids who had controlled themselves and waited patiently for the second marshmallow were the kids who were doing great in college because they were future focused instead of present focused,and were delaying gratification by working hard presently for rewards later on. Fascinating stuff.
FishBottleT
Yea those TED lectures are amazing!! oh and marshmallows.
LisaL
That was very cute.
Cordydan
Radio Lab did a short (15 min.) piece about this experiment.
They included what happened when they looked at the kids years later.
Cute and FASCINATING!
Cordydan
http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2009/03/09/mischel%E2%80%99s-marshmallo ws/
Here's the link.
Miss Cellania
Hey y'all, what happened to the kids years later is in the linked article in this item.
Christophe
I vote for it being the best 2009 post 
It made my day !
poneyup
This probably explains why I'm not doing so great right now. Had it been toddler-me I would have eaten that marshmallow before it hit the plate and run out screaming "foooootball!" before she left the room. Screw future rewards, Death doesn't follow a schedule.
Skipweasel
No trouble for me - always hated marshmallows.
Just about anything else and I'd have wolfed it, I'm sure.
Kalel
"You may have this marshmallow now, but if you'll press this button and shock the child in the next room, I'll give you two."
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT
Comment RSS
Got
a neat story? Share it with the world by writing your very own Neatorama
blog post with the Upcoming
Queue. Who knows, you might just win something ... 
