In the 1960’s
Walter Mischel conducted the now famous “marshmallow study’” at the Bing
Nursery School at Stanford University. A researcher would let a four-year-old
choose a treat from a tray and tell the child that he or she could eat the
treat right away or wait until the researcher returned and have two.
About one-third
of the four-year-olds could wait until the researcher returned fifteen minutes
later. Most of the children could wait for three minutes before popping the
treat into their mouth.
The study has
shown a high correlation between those children who could wait and better
school outcomes, including scoring over 200 points higher on college entrance
exams than the children who ate their marshmallow in less than 30 seconds.
The ability to
choose behavior, in this case choosing to wait for the second marshmallow to
appear, is called self- regulation or self-control.
Self-regulation
for children and adults demands a variety of skills. The child must trust the
adults in the situation. I would guess that the children who could wait for the
marshmallow also had adults in their lives who kept their word and who the
children trusted.
Self-regulation
requires that you feel safe. If you think that some one is going to come in and
take your marshmallow while you wait, it makes sense to pop it into your mouth
right away.
Self-regulation
needs imagination and an ability to redirect focus. The child with self-
control has to imagine something that is not there, in this case the second
marshmallow,
and be able to
think ahead. Children who resisted eating their marshmallow were able to
redirect their attention on something other than the marshmallow. Researchers
found that children, who were taught to imagine that the marshmallow was a
picture and visualize a frame around the marshmallow, were able to resist
temptation longer than they had previously.
Fifteen minutes
of self-regulation at age four also involves experience and practice starting
from a young age. A friend related watching her fifteen-month-old niece self-
regulate at a family get-together. All the adults’ cell phones were on the
coffee table along with one of her niece’s toys. My friend watched her niece
walk over to the table and start to reach for a cell phone. But as she extended
her arm, her niece stopped, and a pensive look swept over the toddler’s face.
Instead she picked up her toy and sat down to play. At fifteen-months,
self-regulation was already at work.
Living in an
environment that promotes trust and safety helps the child’s development of
self-control. Having positive experiences based on respect helps the child’s
development of predicting a sequence of events.
Self-regulation
is a foundational skill for success in all of life–physical wellness, emotional
stability, positive social interaction and intellectual growth. Being able to
control their thoughts and behavior gives our children a vital key for a life
well lived.
Help create a place for our children to safely live with
adult trust and respect so that they can imagine and redirect focus to wait and
enjoy the second marshmallow for all their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment