According to Yuichi Shoda and Walter Mischel’s study, they identified that to be able to delay immediate satisfaction for the sake of future consequences has been considered a crucial achievement of human development (1990). The marshmallow test has been continually developed in several experimental studies that seek to determine self-control in different age groups. This marshmallow test has been developed to test the cognitive development in children, which relates to rationally. Other studies have also replicated the marshmallow test to determine why willpower fails in adults when they might need it the most. This research study compares different research findings that have used Mischel’s idea in determining the behavior in children, adults, and adolescents. This paper hypothesizes that children’s ability to practice self-control translates to later capabilities of handling stress and related disorders in their adulthood. This implies that considering the Marshmallow experiment on children and replica experiments on the elderly, people with higher tolerance and self-control would have higher capabilities of coping with stress.
According to Maia Szalavitz’s research study, which is a replica of the Marshmallow experiment, low delayers exhibit little self-control when they become adults. Szalavitz’s study followed adults, who were present in the initial marshmallow study as children into their adulthood, 40 years later. In his regard, Szalavitz presents the computer experiment, where the results indicate that high delayers were significantly better at not pressing the button when a smiling face flashed on the screen (Szalavitz, 2011). Similarly, Sarah Kliff presents the marshmallow test in a different version. In this case, the children are placed in a room with an adult. The adult would act as either reliable or unreliable to the child. In the first instance, the adult would promise the child a bunch of fun art supplies. However, this adult would return apologize to the child that she could not find the fun art supplies. In the second scenario, the adult would promise the child the bunch of fun art supplies, and eventually avail them to the child. When these two categories of children are given a marshmallow and promised to wait for some more when the adult return before eating the marshmallow, the children in the first category all ate the marshmallow within the first quarter of the wait. However, the children in the second category waited for fifteen minutes and more. This research study therefore concluded that young children’s performance on sustained delay-of-gratification tasks could be strongly influenced by rational decision-making processes (Kliff, 2012). This could also explain behavior in children as rationally chosen best actions that the child feels most comfortable to perform.
In conclusion, after studying the results of these studies, I conclude that children have rational choice when exercising self-control, which later translates to stress handling capabilities through the development stages. Children who exercise self-control in the marshmallow test proved responsible and rational through adolescence to adulthood. Just as they exhibit rational choice at younger ages, adults are most likely to carry their childhood self-control traits into adulthood. Szalavitz’s experiment additionally explains that most adults that were followed from the marshmallow test 40 years on still depict similar conditions in relation to self-control. They smiled at smiling faces and hesitated press the button. However, they reacted very fast to frowning faces. This implies that childhood traits continue into adulthood, especially those related to self-control.
References:
Kliff S., (October 13, 2012). The marshmallow test, revisited. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/10/13/the-marshmallow-test-revisited/?print=1
Szalavitz M., (September 06, 2011). The Secrets of Self-Control: The Marshmallow Test 40 Years Later. Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/06/the-secrets-of-self-control-the-marshmallow-test-40-years-later/#ixzz2mwfki4TV
Shoda Y., & Mischel W., (1990). Predicting Adolescent Cognitive and Self-Regulatory Competencies from Preschool Delay of Gratification: Identifying Diagnostic Conditions. Development Psychology 26:(6) 978-986
