Delay gratification and the Mischel Marshmellow Test

This coming Sunday, Leonore Simon will lead the Adult Forum in a discussion on the findings of the well-known Mischel Marshmellow test. In 1972 Stanford psychologist Walter Mischell tested 4-year olds and their ability to delay eating a marshmellow for 15-minutes. Follow up studies on the subjects 15 years later showed that those children who did delay eating the marshmellow were significantly more successful in several measures than those who did not. This test, used as an indicator of delayed gratification, has been repeated in other, non-US cultures and found to be an effective predictor of academic and other measures success.  It is intriguing to imagine the extent to which delayed gratification  can be taught and learned, and why it might be worthwhile to do so.


Dr. Leonore Simon earned her J.D. from Case Western Reserve School of Law in 1978, practiced criminal law in Ohio and in California for five years, and obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of  Arizona Department of Psychology in 1991. She has taught criminal justice at Temple University, Washington State University, and East Tennessee State University. Dr. Simon has published over 35 journal articles, and presented over 75 conference papers in criminal justice, law, and psychology and taught over 20 different courses.


Please join us. Loving childcare is provided.