"Marshmallow Experiment" that the self-control of children affects the future fails to reproduce, and it is the "economic and social environment" that gives greater influence than self-control

byBlaque X

"Self-control of childhood is related to long-term success in subsequent life"Marshmallow ExperimentResearchers looking at skepticism reproduced the experiment on a larger scale. Considering the child's race, parent's educational background, annual household income, etc., it is shown that the importance for the long-term success of children is "social and economic environment" rather than self-discipline.

Revisiting the Marshmallow Test: A Conceptual Replication Investigating Links Between Early Delay of Gratification and Later Outcomes - Tyler W. Watts, Greg J. Duncan, Haonan Quan, 2018
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797618761661

The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure? - The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/marshmallow-test/561779/

◆ What is a Marshmallow Experiment?
The Marshmallow Experiment was conducted by Stanford University psychologist Walter Michel in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the aim of measuring the relevance of children's self-control and future social outcome using marshmallows There was.

In the marshmallow experiment conducted at Stanford University, 186 children aged 4 years participated as subjects, and the children passed through the room with only one marshmallow, desk and chair, one by one. The experimenter told the children that "If you end up eating marshmallows for 15 minutes before I return, I will raise another one of marshmallows," leaving the room and observing the behavior of the children afterwards. As a result, the number of children who got the second marshmallow through the exercise until the experimenter came back was about one-third, and as a result of the follow-up survey, the group who did not eat marshmallow was the later life It turned out that it was evaluated as excellent. For children who ate marshmallows and children who did not eat to the end, it has also been found that the score of the university admission test (SAT) differs by 210 points in the total score.

byRuffa Jane Reyes

Marshmallow experiment gained a lot of attention, and in another survey after that "People who were born poor get a success by acquiring self-discipline by trying hard, but there is a possibility that they will lose their health in return" It is also stated.

There is a pattern harmful to health at "Marshmallow · Test" measuring self-control level - GIGAZINE


◆ Results of reproducing the marshmallow experiment
However, the research published on May 25, 2018 is supposed to make the results of the marshmallow experiment "limited".

Mr. Taylor Watts of New York University and Greg Duncan of California University Irvine, Mr. Hua Nang Khan saw the result of the marshmallow experiment doubtful, and increased the number of subjects to more than 900 people and conducted an experiment. At this time, the child who was the subject reflected the American people in terms of race / ethnicity / parent's educational background. In addition, the experimental results were adjusted for specific factors such as the annual income of children's families.

As a result, the latest research showed that the results of the original marshmallow experiment that "self-control creates better results" showed limited results. Watts and colleagues' research suggests that whether or not the second marshmallow can be obtained depends largely on "the social and economic background of children" and that social and economic background rather than self-control , It has been shown that it is the key to the success of children in the long run.

Not limited to marshmallow experiments, scientific circles say that they can not reproduce the results of scientific research presented in the pastReproductive crisis"Has become a problem. The latest research results show that the original experimental results are not reproducible and that "the environment surrounding children is more important for the children's life afterwards than the researchers who performed the original marshmallow experiments "It was a brilliant fact that the serious fact was made.

byAaron Burden

Mr. Watts is conducting an analysis focusing on the mother who did not finish college education before the child was born. Because the original experiment was limited to subjects in the community of Stanford University, this allowed investigation of a wide range of subjects.

In this study, the second marshmallow was obtained for children who were able to obtain the second marshmallow when the mother had a degree both in terms of SAT score and later mother's report. It was said that the difference was seen with the child who became it. And there was no difference between children who got the second marshmallow and children who did not obtain it even for children whose mother had no degree. What is important is that the child's annual income and the environment at the time of age 3, and that the extent of self-control is nothing beyond economic and social disadvantages.

And this research also shows that children with poor family are less likely to gain motivation to obtain the second marshmallow, since the guarantee for the future is less than for children in wealthy families. Children in poor families always have the possibility of "There may be no tomorrow even if there is food today" and it is possible that a promise to "buy" will be broken for economic reasons.

On the other hand, children who have high-school education and wealthy parents know from experiences that "adults have resources just to possess food and economic stability", so "procrastinate joy It can be relatively easy to say.

In 2013 Harvard economist Sendir Mulynathan and others and others also showed how poverty allows people to seek short-term compensation rather than long-term compensation. This research is consistent with the contents that past studies show that "whether enough resources exist will change people's way of thinking."