The Marshmallow Experiment

The Marshmallow Experiment - but we used dried apple slices

The Marshmallow Experiment (click to see video) was an experiment done with 4 year olds on their ability to delay gratification. The original studies found that the 4 year olds who did not eat the marshmallow were the most successful adults. Ability to delay gratification was more strongly correlated to adult success than even IQ

They were given one marshmallow and told they could eat it right away, or, if they waited 15 minutes, they  would get another marshmallow.
The children were videotaped and you can see the kids being so tempted and trying to use strategies (like closing their eyes) to avoid eating the marshmallow while they sat there for 15 minutes.

Westley loves these little packages of freeze dried apple slices we get. They are usually a special treat just because they are a little expensive. In hopes to get Will to eat anything beside Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal, I opened a pack and Westley flocked over like a hungry seagull.

So I told Westley, he could have one and eat it, or if he didn't eat right away I would set a timer for 10 minutes and when the timer went off if he hadn't put it in his mouth I would give him 2 more slices. Westley made it 6 minutes, looking as antsy as the kids on the video, but then put it in his mouth.
He was disappointed and wanted to do it again and begged me to reset the timer and start over. I didn't want to drag it out or have him feeling bad or in trouble so I said no and then redirected him into something else.

Luckily Westley isn't 4 yet, we have a 3 more months!