Delay of gratification task - Marshmallow 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 the fourth and fifth measurement waves of TRAILS Next, the Marshmallow task was used. Children were given 1 sweet in front of them (candy, chocolate or a healthier fruit roll up), and told that if they would wait with eating it, they would get 2 sweets later instead. The experimenter then left the room and came back after 7 minutes. During the entire period, the child's behavior was videotaped.

Citation Loading citation...
Keywords
Constructs
Waves
  • The Next Generation

  • NEXT - T4
    •   OC
    4.5 - 5.0 years   From 2018-06-01 (ongoing)
  • NEXT - T5
    •   OC
    6.0 - 7.0 years   From 2015-01-01 (ongoing)
    Mode of collection Observation
    Analysis unit Individual
    Instrument name Marshmallow 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).