this post was submitted on 09 May 2025
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[–] anachrohack@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago (23 children)
[–] sundray@lemmus.org 104 points 2 months ago (15 children)

"The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a study on delayed gratification in 1970 led by psychologist Walter Mischel, a professor at Stanford University.[1] In this study, a child was offered a choice between one small but immediate reward, or two small rewards if they waited for a period of time."

The joke is that in this version of the experiment, the child isn't being tested, the marshmallow is. And in this case, the marshmallow has decided to eat this one child instead of waiting until later, when it would have been allowed to eat two children.

[–] i_love_FFT@jlai.lu 21 points 2 months ago (5 children)

I always found this study to be lacking...

5 minutes is not worth 1 marshmallow. Marshmallows are not that good, so one is way enough. As a kid, I could never trust adults who wanted to limit good things. Who's to say the strange adult in a white coat would really bring a 2nd marshmallow? What if they actually remove the marshmallow instead?

In short, it can only separate kids in two groups: the blind followers of authority and the other ones.

[–] TheFlopster@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

This is what I've said since I learned of this experiment. I'm only waiting for the second marshmallow if BOTH of the following statements are true:

  1. I want two marshmallows.

  2. I trust the adult to keep his word.

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