Page 8 - Flipbook: Sociology Shortcuts Issue 4: Testing the Marshmallow Test

May Not Be Reliable…

In their replication of the Marshmallow Test, Kidd et al (2012) used an Art Project task to test the
idea that the nature of the situation – whether the children perceived it as being reliable or unreliable
– would significantly impact on the test results. And what they found probably won’t surprise you
(although it’s worth watching nonetheless):

In the previous studies of Mischel and Ebbesen As they conclude:
and Shoda et al., the children assumed
(correctly) that the experimenters were reliable “The effect we observed is consistent with
– if they promised an extra Marshmallow for converging evidence that young children are
waiting they delivered on this promise – and sensitive to uncertainty about future rewards”
they waited, on average, around 6 minutes. and that “The findings suggest that children’s
Kidd et al, however, found that in their ability to delay gratification isn’t solely the result
experiment: of self-control. It’s also a rational response to
what they know about the stability of their
“children waited twice that long in the reliable environment.”
condition (12 min), and half as long in the
unreliable condition (3 min)”.

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