Delay Gratification (Berk 2013)

Delay Gratification is an important attribute for self-control (Berk 2013). As children grow up, the ability to control themselves improves. The marshmallow test measures the children’s ability to delay gratification (Berk 2013). For this task, a 3 year old male and a 5 year old female were chosen to participate. To begin with, I set a small table inside my room with a chair and a plate with only one marshmallow. The first participant was the 3 year old male. Before leaving the room, I instructed the 3 year old that if he waited until I came back and the marshmallow was still there, he would receive a full bag of marshmallows. I left the 3 year old seated right in front of the marshmallow. I waited for 15 minutes. When I came back into the room the marshmallow was gone. Right when I walked in the three year old stated that he was
Caregiving and compliance also plays an important role to a child’s ability to delay gratification (Berk 2013). A 3 three year old is starting to learn how to follow directions from the caregiver. He needs to have the memory capacities to recall the caregiver’s instructions and apply them (Berk 2013). In this stage the children are able to listen and have some self- control but it’s not fully developed or mastered. In the other hand, the 5 year old was able to delay gratification. Since, 5 year old is a preschooler, children are thought to follow directions and be patient. In comparison, the three year has only the guidance of his parents were as the 5 year old has guidance of both parents and teachers. The 5 year has improved in her cognitive development (Berk 2013). Eventually, children who are able to delay gratification get better grades and have more successful careers (Mischel et al 2011). In addition, better social, emotional, and cognitive coping through adolescence and adulthood (Mischel et al