1
00:00:00,060 --> 00:00:04,959
[school bell rings]

2
00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,729
-If I eat 100 marshmallows,
I would be filled up!

3
00:00:08,730 --> 00:00:10,589
(Richard Aslin)
Everybody knows that young children,

4
00:00:10,590 --> 00:00:14,159
particularly toddlers--
two to four-year-olds--

5
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,069
are subject to impulsivity,

6
00:00:17,070 --> 00:00:20,209
and it has been thought that
that is a characteristic

7
00:00:20,210 --> 00:00:21,629
that children are born with.

8
00:00:21,630 --> 00:00:24,509
-Do you know what?
It is snack time now.

9
00:00:24,510 --> 00:00:27,509
-And so, what we wanted to know
is whether or not

10
00:00:27,510 --> 00:00:30,629
some of these differences
between children

11
00:00:30,630 --> 00:00:34,859
can be influenced by their own
rational thought processes.

12
00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:37,979
-We wanted to manipulate
children's beliefs

13
00:00:37,980 --> 00:00:41,339
about how reliable the environment
that they were in was.

14
00:00:41,340 --> 00:00:42,839
We assign kids to one of two conditions:

15
00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,759
either the reliable condition
or the unreliable condition.

16
00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:47,789
-So, for the art supplies
that you get to use,

17
00:00:47,790 --> 00:00:49,259
you actually have a choice.

18
00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:52,109
You can either use these crayons
right now,

19
00:00:52,110 --> 00:00:55,319
or if you can wait for me to go get some
from the other room,

20
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,719
you can use our big set of art supplies
instead.

21
00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,399
(Celeste Kidd)
The kids in the reliable condition,

22
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,199
when the team member came back
into the room,

23
00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,729
had the better thing,
and for the kids

24
00:01:03,730 --> 00:01:06,349
in the unreliable condition,
the experimenter apologized,

25
00:01:06,350 --> 00:01:08,609
and said she made a mistake,
we didn't have that available,

26
00:01:08,610 --> 00:01:10,409
and then helped them use
the first option.

27
00:01:10,410 --> 00:01:13,799
-I'm so sorry, but I actually don't have
that big set of art supplies

28
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,499
I told you about.
Sorry about that.

29
00:01:16,500 --> 00:01:18,839
But you can still use these ones
to make your project.

30
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,989
(Aslin)
A classic example of a task

31
00:01:21,990 --> 00:01:24,449
in which children show impulsivity

32
00:01:24,450 --> 00:01:26,309
is what's called
the "marshmallow task".

33
00:01:26,310 --> 00:01:29,889
-For your snack, you have a choice.
Look what I've got.

34
00:01:29,890 --> 00:01:31,539
-[gasp] A marshmallow!

35
00:01:31,540 --> 00:01:33,929
-Yeah! So, wait, just a second;
let me explain.

36
00:01:33,930 --> 00:01:37,469
So, you can either eat
this one marshmallow right now,

37
00:01:37,470 --> 00:01:40,709
or if you can wait for me to go get it
from the other room,

38
00:01:40,710 --> 00:01:43,339
you can have two marshmallows instead.

39
00:01:43,340 --> 00:01:45,899
-I want two marshmallows!

40
00:01:45,900 --> 00:01:47,579
(Aslin)
And what we found,

41
00:01:47,580 --> 00:01:49,559
which was an incredibly large effect,

42
00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,919
the children who were in
the unreliable group

43
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,949
were more likely to fairly quickly

44
00:01:55,950 --> 00:01:57,989
pick up the marshmallow
and eat it.

45
00:01:57,990 --> 00:02:00,539
So, on average,
they waited about three minutes.

46
00:02:00,540 --> 00:02:03,509
-And did you know,
I did not eat this marshmallow yet?

47
00:02:03,510 --> 00:02:05,489
(Aslin) The children
who were in the reliable group

48
00:02:05,490 --> 00:02:08,669
waited four times longer,
so they waited about 12 minutes,

49
00:02:08,670 --> 00:02:10,799
which is an incredibly long time

50
00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,669
for young children to wait
before they get a reward.

51
00:02:14,670 --> 00:02:16,979
(Kidd) The difference
is maybe due to differing expectations

52
00:02:16,980 --> 00:02:18,539
about what's likely to happen
in the world.

53
00:02:18,540 --> 00:02:20,279
That's what this experiment
was designed to address.

54
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,199
-For any three year old,
self-control is not necessarily

55
00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,049
at the top of their skill base.
[laughs]

56
00:02:24,050 --> 00:02:26,199
But, in general,
when she sets her mind

57
00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,309
that she's going to do something,
she's going to do it.

58
00:02:28,310 --> 00:02:30,449
(Kidd) In the marshmallow task,
what you want to do

59
00:02:30,450 --> 00:02:34,119
is you want to get
the most amount of marshmallow possible,

60
00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,249
but there may be other considerations.

61
00:02:36,250 --> 00:02:38,609
Given that I have this one marshmallow
now that's guaranteed,

62
00:02:38,610 --> 00:02:40,259
what are the chances that if I wait,

63
00:02:40,260 --> 00:02:41,879
there's going to be a second marshmallow
later?

64
00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,619
-If it was a teacher he had
all the time, that if--

65
00:02:44,620 --> 00:02:47,619
they would have that trust bond
a little bit longer,

66
00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:49,019
then he'd probably wait longer.

67
00:02:49,020 --> 00:02:51,359
(Aslin)
One of the lines of work

68
00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,869
that evolved as a result
of the marshmallow task

69
00:02:54,870 --> 00:02:59,519
was to look at the outcomes

70
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,699
of children's behavior
later in life,

71
00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:05,459
but something that's been missing
from the equation

72
00:03:05,460 --> 00:03:08,639
is this rational process
by which children

73
00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:11,969
are accessing information
in their environment

74
00:03:11,970 --> 00:03:14,039
and making decisions about
whether they should behave

75
00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,349
in the short term
or behave in the long term.

76
00:03:16,350 --> 00:03:18,689
So, if they're in an environment

77
00:03:18,690 --> 00:03:22,379
in which long term gain
is very rare,

78
00:03:22,380 --> 00:03:25,259
well then, it makes perfect sense
for them to behave impulsively

79
00:03:25,260 --> 00:03:27,299
because that's going to maximize
their reward.

80
00:03:27,300 --> 00:03:30,659
-How's it taste?
-Mmmm!

81
00:03:30,660 --> 00:03:33,179
(narrator) A production
of the University of Rochester.

82
00:03:33,180 --> 00:03:35,869
Please visit us online
and subscribe to our channel

83
00:03:35,870 --> 00:03:38,579
for more videos.

84
00:03:38,580 --> 00:03:43,579
[school bell rings]