Predicting Kids' Success ... with Marshmallows

(CBS)  Testing footage shows children desperately trying to resist temptation. Their dilemma? Ring the bell, and get one marshmallow now. Or, wait, and get two marshmallows later.

It's called "the marshmallow test" and it can predict the future - sort of. Originally conducted more than 40 years ago, the studies continue today. Researchers consistently find that the group of kids who could force themselves to wait tend to have better lives and relationships. They also averaged 210 points higher on their SATs than the kids who could not hold off.

"If you can be focused on your goal and you can have self control to achieve that goal you can achieve a lot more in life," said author Ellen Galinsky.

Focus and self control are two of the essential life skills included in Galinsky's new book, "Mind in the Making." They're simple ideas, but difficult to master in a wired society where multi-tasking is valued and distractions are commonplace.

"If you really need to do something, you have something hard to work on - then you need to find a way to pay attention," Galinsky said.

Galinsky suggests a game like "reverse Simon Says" - which forces kids to focus.

Also, balance simple games with high-tech ones. Galinsky says kids can learn with the same passion they show playing.

Check out this YouTube clip. The father of the two-and-a-half-year-old claims it's the first time she picked up his iPad. She gets it right away.

"Computers appeal to children in a very different way. They actually appeal to children in a way that they learn best. They're active learners, they're not passive," Galinsky said.

It's the big challenge for parents today: raising children who can get what they want with their fingertips, but who must also learn that some things in life are worth waiting for.

Watch the Marshmallow Test

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[mcgroober]

The results of the test are based on subjective interpretation. In other words, it is a totally meaningless study (shocker). I see it as the kids who do not wait are not greedy. They are happy with one and are ready to move on with their lives. The kids who wait just cant deal with life unless they feel they have it all.

[krotec54]

What ever happen to the practice of self control and ignoring temptation?

[tmittelstaed]

Now, what if the kids don't really like marshmallows?

The problem with this kind of a test is that it only measures the kid from the options given to the kid, and it defines success in the researchers terms.

There are many people out there who HAVE achieved all their goals through self-denial, who we would call "successful" yet are unhappy. And there are also many people who have never really had any serious goals, let alone achieved anything, and yet are gloriously happy.

Would you rather live an unhappy or a happy life? Happiness is not automatic just because your successful and you have achieved your goals. And it is definitely not found living your life according to someone else's definition of how you should be living it.

[AtLasOn1Kl733]

The good ole bell test. Never seems to amaze me.

[taxchurches]

"The basic principle that made this country great is now considered a mortal social sin."

Please cite sources or give examples for the three unsupported claims made in this sentence.

[edixope4842]

taxchurches-and which lifestyle vice are you defending? I think we can all guess-Big Snicker

[edixope4842]

For crying out loud. It's the old emotional intelligence story reworked.

Call it EQ, self-denial,or delayed gratification, this basic principle runs head-long into our immediate gratification, or "you're a hater and a bigot" if you question my particular vice.

Self-denial and delayed gratification is no longer the norm and is now considered politically incorrect.

The basic principle that made this country great is now considered a mortal social sin.

The benchmark for character greatness has been lowered to a few notches above chimpanzee.... my apologies to the chimpanzees of the world.

[brianbwb2011]

Perhaps that is because in the real world, you wait for the promise, only to find that while you waited, the people who told you to wait have eaten all the marshmallows.

Remember "trickle down"?

[edixope4842]

I remember trickle down brian-it just proves that even the guys "holding the bag" have no self control.