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 YOUth, the child was seated at a table during the task and received a present in a gift bag from the research assistant. The research assistant then told the child that they forgot to tie a ribbon on the present, and asked the child to wait for the research assistant’s return before opening the present. The research assistant would then leave the room for 3 minutes, while the parent remained in the same room as the child, but out of its sight. With parental consent, the child’s behavior was videotaped when the research assistant left the room until they returned.

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Keywords
Constructs
Waves
  • Baby and Child

  • 3 years
    •   C
    24 months - 5.0 years   From 2018-06-22 to 2023-11-01
    Mode of collection Observation
    Analysis unit Individual
    Instrument name Gift delay task
    Measure name Gift delay task
    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
    You can also access this dataset using the API (see API Docs).