How Long Can You Resist A Marshmallow?
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How long can you resist a marshmallow? For a minute, maybe two - How about 20 minutes? Believe it or not, the answer to that simple question, could shape your entire future - At least that, is the conclusion reached by University of Stanford scientist Walter Mischel the brainchild behind the now legendary 'Stanford Marshmallow' test.
The unusual experiment was conducted by the psychologist between 1968-1970. Children between the ages of 4-6 were invited individually and seated at a table inside a room that had a single marshmallow (or even cookie or pretzel if that is what they preferred) on a plate. They were told that if they could resist the treat for 20 minutes, they would be rewarded with another. Those that that were unable to wait, simply had to ring a bell that lay in front of them before devouring it. They would however receive no additional treats. The scientist would then sneak out and watch the kid's behavior from a one-way mirror.
What they observed was that only about a third of the kids were able to wait out the 20 minutes and that the older the child was, the better his/her resistance power. However, what was even more interesting is that most, no matter how young, did wait it out at least for a little while. Very few, gobbled the marshmallow right away.
That of course, was just the beginning of the study that has been ongoing since. Many years later, the scientist followed up with the parents of the now-grown kids with a detailed questionnaire. What he found was that those that had been able to resist the marshmallow for the full 20 minutes, were thought to be more competent by their parents, than the others. Things got even more interesting a few years later, when he discovered that the marshmallow resisters all scored an average of 210 points higher on their Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores than the rest of the group. Not only that, they were also better at planning and, handling stress.
Recently, Tanya Schlam at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health along with some of her colleagues decided to contact the same group for a totally different purpose - To see whether the self-control had continued into adulthood and therefore helped them maintain a healthy weight. Sure enough, they found it was directly related to the minutes they were able to hold off eating the marshmallows. Who knew that scoffing down a marshmallow when you were just four could affect your entire life!
Resources: Telegraph.co.uk, nydailynews.com, slate.com
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660 Comments
himarialmost 10 yearsi dont like marshmallows
ginnypandas444almost 10 yearsYeah that is kinda rare but I can see why you don't like them, after a while they get super, like, too sweet. Plus I have how they go everywhere if you try to suck the gooey bit out! Roasted marshmallows are better though (:
crystalmorialmost 10 yearsAlso, marshmallow is actually a plant that was used to make the original treat and they don't use it anymore. They use a bunch of substitutes. I wonder if you might like them if you tried the real kind? (Though I haven't even gotten to eat real ones myself, at least in the past few years. I want real marshmallows....)
animereina2021over 4 yearsYeah, they originated in them early times.... If I remember clearly, than the original marshmallow was from Egyptians or Hebrews who would take the plant and squeeze the sugary liquid out of them...
- crystalmorialmost 10 yearsThat's rare. I don't think it's a bad thing, though.
bigmeloalmost 10 yearsOoh, now this is pretty ironic. I went to an Ivy League Preschool, & my preschool teachers (there were two ^-^) applied this test to my classmates & I. It was funny, because I was watching from my table something that would make me laugh in a few moments. As my teachers were telling one of my classmates not to eat the marshmallow, he snatched it off the plate & shoved it into his mouth. They put another marshmallow onto the plate, only to find that he grabbed it & ate it. One by one, the marshmallows slowly disappeared out of the bag, until there were none left! I guess my classmates must have liked marshmallows an awful lot! Did you know my nickname is MarshMelo? I know, it's weird. :D
wildpeepalmost 10 yearsI could stand it four an hour I like marsh mallows but not that much
animefan3almost 10 yearsMe too wildpeep
nikukyualmost 10 yearsYeah but I can't say for sure that I can resist hot coco with marshmallows! Mmmmmm- crystalmorialmost 10 yearsI would have a hard time with that (because of the smell of the hot chocolate). Maybe if I had a book to distract me? But if you waited, then it wouldn't be HOT chocolate anymore, so what's the point of that?
- animefan3almost 10 yearsI think I can resist hot coco with marshmallows nikukyu
followeralmost 10 yearsagreed. only in smores- animefan3almost 10 yearsNow that good follower
- Awesome 7salmost 10 yearsI could resist for one second that is it
- followeralmost 10 yearsakward
maemae52about 10 years(sniffle sniffle sniffle) I cant do that!!!!!!!!!
happypug12about 10 yearsMarshmallows can relive toothaches, asthma, and sore throats.- animereina2021over 4 yearsApparently that's what they say on google, but you can't always believe the internet... Also, I think that you are getting mixed up with the Hebrews and Egyptians that used the original marshmallow plant to sooth pain, and yes there is a real marshmallow plant if you do not believe me!!!
- nikukyualmost 10 yearsYeeeeesssss now I can convince my mom to buy me more!
- crystalmorialmost 10 yearsReally? With the sugar, I would think they'd make toothaches worse.
awesome_kidabout 10 yearsI would probably be able to resist it because I had not had a marshmallow for the first 10 years of my life
animaljamzalmost 10 yearswow!
- nikukyuabout 10 yearsThe second pic is too cute!!!!! It makes me want to eat marshmallows!
- followeralmost 10 yearsit is also kind of funny
- happypug12about 10 yearsI just ate a few marshmallows a few minutes ago. They ARE too hard to resist.
- baconlover123over 10 yearsI WANT THE VIDEO!!!
