"Marshmallow Experiment" is a series of classic psychological experiments on self-control conducted by Dr. Walter Mischel of Stanford University from 1966 to the early 1970s.

In these experiments, children can choose the same reward (sometimes cotton candy, biscuits, chocolate, etc. ), or choose to wait for a period of time until the experimenter returns to the room (usually 15 minutes) and get the same two rewards.

In later studies, researchers found that children who can endure their favorite rewards for a longer time usually have better life performance, such as better SAT scores, educational achievements, body mass index and other indicators.

But now it is questioned whether one of the factors affecting behavior is self-control, not strategic planning ability. But people who don't eat rewards are usually more successful than those who eat rewards, because they can restrain themselves, so they have strong self-control ability.

The prototype of Michelle's initial experiment was on an island called Trinidad. He noticed that different races living on this island have completely different behavior patterns, especially in recklessness, self-control and the ability to get happiness.

In this small experiment (sample size N=53), some children aged 7-9 (35 African-Americans and 65,438+08 Indians) in a local school can choose to get a candy immediately or get 65,438+00 candy a week later.

Michelle recorded significant behavioral differences between race and age, but socio-economic differences did not show significant influence in this experiment.

African-American children usually have no father (which rarely happens among Indians), and this variable shows a strong correlation with delayed gratification; Children with complete families usually show stronger delay ability.

Later, Michelle conducted this experiment in more than 600 kindergartens and nurseries affiliated to Stanford University. The experimental results show that only 30% of children insist on 15 minutes.

This series of marshmallow experiments broke through many previous viewpoints in conclusion, and also made people really understand why children from poor families could not resist eating at the first time. After all, in their world, everything in life is full of uncertainty, such as eating bread today, but it doesn't mean it will happen tomorrow. Many times, their parents will promise to bring more delicious food home, but in fact they often break their word because of financial difficulties.