The marshmallow test is one of the best known scientific experiments featured in Daniel Goleman’s seminal book Emotional Intelligence.:Why it can matter more than IQ. Emotional Intelligence aka EQ can be loosely defined as the awareness of and ability to manage your emotions in a healthy and productive manner.

In this experiment, four-year-olds at Stanford University (at the pre-school! This is not a post on child prodigies) were brought on their own into a room and put sitting  in front of a  marshmallow on a table. The experiment facilitator told them they could eat the marshmallow now or get two if they  waited until he came back (in approx 15 minutes). And then the facilitator watched,via hidden camera, what happened when he left the room……..

Did they eat the marshmallow or could they resist temptation? And, so what?

With the marshmallow test, the ability to control impulses turned out to be a good predictor of how well these children were getting on 14 years later when they were finishing high school. The “waiters”, i.e. the children who had the ability to resist the temptation to scoff the marshmallow compared to the “grabbers”i.e. those who gave in straight away,  were performing better socially and academically; they tended to be more popular with their peers and scored significantly higher on achievement tests.

Why is this?

To paraphrase Stephen Covey, author of  Seven habits for highly effective people, between stimulus and response there is a gap and in that gap is the freedom to choose your response.

The part of the brain responsible for this self-control (called the dorsal fronto-median cortex)is  among the last areas to become  anatomically mature.  The increasing ability of an individual not to react but to choose their response is a sign that the brain circuitry is developing as they should. Obviously impusles are, by their nature, sudden and self-control and the ability to choose your response  is a sign of emotional intelligence.  

And, increasing your ability to take advantage of that gap before reacting leads to more productive outcomes.

And finally, an excellent short TED talk in which Joachim de Posada recreates the marshmallow test and discusses how it can predict future success. And a really funny video of children trying their best not to eat the marshmallow.

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