Marshmallow Test

I did a version of this with Westley when he was still 3 he made it a few minutes. The original experiment was done with 4 year olds, so I wanted to do it again to see how he would do.

I have Westley one Lucky Charms Marshmallow. I told him he didn't eat it, and sat and waited 10 minutes, I would give him two more. (see video clip with some footage - it's only 2 1/2 minutes)

Westley did it! He waited the whole 10 minutes. A very proud mom moment for me :)
Like other children who "pass" this test, he used strategies to resist the temptation. He avoided looking at it, he sniffed it, put his hands around it without touching it, even sang a little song to put his mind on something else.

Longitudinal research on the children in the original experiment showed that the children who were able to delay gratification and wait (about 30%) had less behavior problems, more self control, were more popular, dependable, and were better at keeping academic goals, and better educated. They had higher self esteem, less relationship problems and less drug use.