The Marshmallow Test

*Let me preface this post by saying that Ian LOVES marshmallows. He often asked for them as a snack, so I was not too sure how this would unfold.*

One of Daddy's colleagues told him about an experiment performed on 4-year-olds. Here's the jist:

A Deferred Gratification Experiment
The marshmallow experiment is a famous test of this concept conducted by Walter Mischel at Stanford University and discussed by Daniel Goleman in his popular work. In the 1960s, a group of four-year olds were given a marshmallow and promised another, only if they could wait 20 minutes before eating the first one. Some children could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence, and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable (determined via surveys of their parents and teachers), and scored an average of 210 points higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.[2]

Ian was our lab rat today, and I'm happy to report he was able to wait for the second marshmallow. He squeezed, sniffed and rubbed the first one, but he never took a bite!