Temptation, Control, and Autonomy

Abstract

In an experiment led by Walter Mischel at Stanford in 1968, 4-year-old children were given a choice between having one treat now, for example, one marshmallow, or if they could delay their gratification, two later. Once this was explained to them, the children were left alone with the treats, and told to ring a bell to call the experimenter if they decided that they did not want to wait for two, but wanted to have one. The children remained under unobtrusive observation. If a child did not ring the bell, the experimenter would return in about 15 minutes, and as long as the child had not eaten a treat, she could take two. Not many children could wait for two treats, but those that did employed some of the following strategies:

Observation of children’s spontaneous behaviour during the delay process suggested that those who were most effective in sustaining delay seemed to avoid looking at the rewards deliberately, for example, covering their eyes with their hands and resting their heads on their arms. Many children generated their own diversions: they talked quietly to themselves, sang, created games with their hands and feet, and even tried to go to sleep during the waiting time. Their attempts to delay gratification seemed to be facilitated by external conditions or by self-directed efforts to reduce their frustration during the delay period by selectively directing their attention and thoughts away from the rewards. (Mischel et al. 1989: 935–936)