4V: Delayed Gratification

Delayed gratification: "the ability to wait in order to obtain what one wants." (Wikipedia definition)

Delayed gratification is something that people struggle with a lot nowadays. The example in the readings this week was done with "The Marshmallow Test". 4 year old kids were sat in a room with one marshmallow in front of them. They were told that if they waited until the adult got back (15 minutes), they would receive two marshmallows, only if they didn't eat the first one.

The results of "The Marshmallow Test" were that the children who were able to delay gratification did something to distract themselves from wanting to eat the marshmallow. Some covered their eyes, or played with their hair. The other children who couldn't delay gratification, ate the marshmallow in 3 minutes or less. The interesting thing was the research done years later. When the children who participated in the test were followed up 13-14 years later, the children who did delay gratification had higher SAT scores than those who could not delay gratification. Also the kids who ate the marshmallow and didn't delay gratification had behavioral problems, and struggled in school. Delayed gratification therefore has a similarity towards future behavior and intelligence. My definition of the word would be "A persons patience level toward something that they want", because being patient has a lot to do with it. If you're less patient, you're more likely to have instant gratification and if you're more patient you're likely to have delayed gratification.


One word that I found I didn't know in this weeks readings was from the "Just Let Them Eat the Marshmallow!" article, and the world was obfuscated. It was used in the sentence, "Second, reportage of the marshmallow study has obfuscated just how few kids were included in Mischel’s analysis." (Bronson, Merryman). The word means "render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible.", which in the sentence would mean the study was very unclear about how few kids were in the analysis.

Another word I found was subsequent which means "coming after something in time; following." 



Now, take a look at this brownie. Would you rather stare at it in an empty room for an hour, or after the hour is over receive 2 dozen of these glorious brownies? The choice is up to you and your gratification!

http://www.nanaclareskitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/b-moist-brownie.jpg