The most recent meeting of the Get Cheddar Club focused on the Marshmallow Experiment. The experiment first started at Stanford University in the 1960s. Over the years, Dr. Walter Mischel, the experiment's founder and Stanford psychology professor, followed those who participated in the experiment and either successfully waited for the second marshmallow or who caved and ate the first.
Mischel found that those who waited for the second marshmallow did better in school and were better stewards of their finances among other positive attributes. Mischel also found that those who could not wait for the second marshmallow and simply ate the one in front of them did worse in school and that they became poorer caretakers of their money over time.
A lot has been written about the experiment over the years for better or for worse. A 2010 WNYC report called it a greater predictor of future behavior and success than any standardized test. Others have shot holes in it claiming the ability to delay gratification is as much about nurture as nature.
In 2012, New York Times investigative reporter Charles Duhigg published The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. While Duhigg goes on to cite studies that liken willpower to a muscle that can tire after repeated use, I latched on to the successful habit of the children who passed the marshmallow test. When faced with temptation, they knew how to distract themselves. The least I can do for my students is to introduce them to this good habit.
It's easy to tell kids and people to wait for the second marshmallow, but it's rarely that easy to see through.
Putting the Get Cheddar Club through the marshmallow experiment was a fascinating chance to observe human nature first hand.
In front of each student I placed a Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie. I then asked if they wanted two cookies. The class resoundingly said yes. Then the bad news: They could not have the second cookie till Ms. Hannah, my assistant, returned. If they ate the cookie before them, no second cookie. They moaned.
How long will Ms Hannah be away? they asked.
I don't know, I said. It could be five minutes, it could be fifteen.
They groaned.
For good measure I put a cookie in front of myself as well. The kids got a kick out of that. Ms. Hannah then left the room.
Some kids quickly pushed the cookie away from them. Others covered the cookie up with pieces of paper on their desk. A few averted their eyes or hid the cookie from view behind fingers.
Fortunately for them, I couldn't afford to spend 15 minutes of class waiting for someone to crack. So I gave in and devoured my cookie. When Hannah returned she gave me the hairy eyeball and asked me why I did it.
I just couldn't take it anymore, I said. That I felt the room getting hotter. That I couldn't take the pressure of such sweet temptation right before me. That I could not think of anything else.
I then took the kids outside where we worked on a new song and dance routine and played on the playground. Halfway through I asked them, are you thinking about the cookie?
No! they shouted as they played on the swings or slid down the slide.
We then discussed ways to avoid temptation such as going for a walk, reading a book, and playing.
Eventually a kid asked me, what does this have to do with money?
I then drew a parallel between sparing your first cookie to earn a second with putting a dollar in a savings account and waiting for it to become two.
I was proud of the kids' ability to distract themselves from cookie temptation, but know if they had been alone for a longer period of time the results may have been different. Hopefully they'll learn from my acting job rather than make the mistake themselves down the road.
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