October 20, 2010

• Marshmallow Experiment

  I preached on honor a few days ago (iTunes search: New Philadelphia Church 2010) and there was one illustration I wanted to include in the message but wasn’t able to.  It is the marshmallow experiment…

  << In one of the most amazing developmental studies ever conducted, Walter Michel of Stanford created a simple test of the ability of four year old children to control impulses and delay gratification. Children were taken one at a time into a room with a one-way mirror. They were shown a marshmallow. The experimenter told them he had to leave and that they could have the marshmallow right then, but if they waited for the experimenter to return from an errand, they could have two marshmallows. One marshmallow was left on a table in front of them. Some children grabbed the available marshmallow within seconds of the experimenter leaving. Others waited up to twenty minutes for the experimenter to return. In a follow-up study (Shoda, Mischel, & Peake, 1990), children were tested at 18 years of age and comparisons were made between the third of the children who grabbed the marshmallow (the “impulsive”) and the third who delayed gratification in order to receive the enhanced reward (“impulse controlled”).

  The third of the children who were most impulsive at four years of age scored an average of 524 verbal and 528 math. The impulse controlled students scored an average of 610 verbal and 652 math! This astounding 210 point total score difference on the SAT was predicted on the basis of a single observation at four years of age! The 210 point difference is as large as the average differences between that of economically advantaged versus disadvantaged children and is larger than the difference between children from families with graduate degrees versus children whose parents did not finish high school! At four years of age gobbling a marshmallow now v. waiting for two later is twice as good a predictor of later SAT scores than is IQ. Poor impulse control is also a better predictor of later delinquency than is IQ (Block, 1995). >>

  Pretty interesting, right?  So often people want to take matters into their own hands and “move themselves up” in the world.  Rather than honoring their authorities and sticking through some hard times, they will try to cut corners, find short cuts, or simply abandon ship.  But God never works like that.  I remember one time I was jogging on a trail on some mountains in the Yukon while praying.  I began to feel that the windy trail I was jogging represented my life, with ups and downs and different turns.  I then noticed a point during a windy turn where I could cut through some trees for a short cut.  I knew in my mind that isn’t how God works, but I wanted to make the short cut anyway.  And what happened?  I tripped. 

  It’s better to stick things through.  You’ll find yourself a lot wiser and a lot more blessed in the end.

  And as for the experiment, here is a both humorous and painful to watch demonstration of the experiment…

  Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

  God bless!

  • 11:21 am
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