The secret of self-control? Distraction, according to a recent article in the New Yorker and also the topic of a podcast from Radiolab. The article discusses the research of Dr. Walter Mischel, who devised a diabolical test for preschool kids. He let the kids pick a treat, and then told them they could ring a bell to have the researcher give them one right away, or if they could wait fifteen minutes they could have two. Naturally, most kids gave in after a few minutes–some didn’t even bother to ring the bell–but some were able to wait.
The other results of the research are just fascinating about how the ability to delay gratification at such an early age correlated to academic success later in life.
But most interesting for those of us who would have not only have taken the marshmallow but would have tried to finangle the other two as well was that Mischel figured out the kids who were most successful were those who distracted themselves from the treats
Instead of getting obsessed with the marshmallow—the “hot stimulus”—the patient children distracted themselves by covering their eyes, pretending to play hide-and-seek underneath the desk, or singing songs from “Sesame Street.” Their desire wasn’t defeated—it was merely forgotten. “If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it,” Mischel says. “The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.”
Furthermore, Mischel was able to teach kids ways of delaying gratification, such as having them imagine the mashmallow was a picture and wasn’t really real.
If kids can learn this, so can we. Right?
