Want To Teach Your Kids Self-Control? Ask A Cameroonian Farmer
The "marshmallow test" is a famous experiment for studying kids' self-control. For the first time, a psychologist gave the test to kids outside Western culture. And they crushed it.
by Michaeleen Doucleff
Jul 03, 2017
3 minutes
In the the 1960s, a Stanford psychologist ran an experiment to study children's self-control.
It's called the marshmallow test. And it's super simple.
Kids ages 3 to 5 choose a treat — an Oreo cookie, a pretzel stick or a marshmallow. Then researchers give the child brief instructions: You can eat the treat now ... but if you can wait for me to return, you'll get two treats.
The researchers leave the room. And the child just has to sit there staring at a marshmallow — and deciding whether to exert
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