Delay of gratification task

The Delay of Gratification task aims to measure self-regulation by presenting the child with the choice between a small reward in the short-term and a larger reward in the long-term. The classic implementation of the Delay of Gratification task is the Marshmallow experiment, in which a child is presented with one marshmallow right now and is instructed that if they manage to wait for the researcher to return before eating it, they will receive multiple marshmallows later on. Multiple implementations of the Delay of Gratification task exist, with different reward types and suitable for different populations.

In Generation R, both a gift delay task and a snack delay task were administered by trained research assistants. For the gift delay task, the experimenter brought a paper bag containing a wrapped gift and placed the bag on the table. The child was asked to wait and not touch or investigate the bag until the experimenter brought the card accompanying the gift. Children were then left alone in the room for exactly 3 minutes, while their behaviour was monitored via a hidden camera setup. During the snack delay task, the child waited for the experimenter to ring the bell before retrieving a snack (either a ‘Manna’ candy or a raisin depending on the dietary instruction by the parent) from under a transparent cup placed on a table in front of the child (two practice trials and four experimental trials, with delays of 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, and 20 seconds).

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Keywords
Constructs
Waves
  • Generation R

  • 3 years
    •   C
    34 months - 4.7 years   From 2005-01-01 to 2009-12-31
    Mode of collection Observation
    Analysis unit Individual
    Instrument name Gift delay and snack delay
    Measure name Cognition
    References
    Mischel, W., & Ebbesen, E. B. (1970). Attention in delay of gratification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(2), 329–337. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0029815
    Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. L. (1989). Delay of Gratification in Children. Science, 244(4907), 933–938. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2658056
    Mischel, W., Ebbesen, E. B., & Raskoff Zeiss, A. (1972). Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21(2), 204–218. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0032198
    Duckworth, A. L., Tsukayama, E., & Kirby, T. A. (2013). Is It Really Self-Control? Examining the Predictive Power of the Delay of Gratification Task. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(7), 843–855. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167213482589
    Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36(2), 220–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.2.220
    You can also access this dataset using the API (see API Docs).