Marshmallow Test

Super-Fun-Pak Comix by Ruben Bolling for May 9, 2025 | GoComics

Science Memes @mander.xyz

Sundray @lemmus.org

3d ago

Marshmallow Test

58 comments

sometimes i think about that kid in the experiment
\ who was sat down and told to wait some time
\ before eating the sweetness put in front of him
that his patience would bring a reward
and i think about how they laughed when he didn’t succeed in waiting and instead
\ crammed the entire gummy bear into his mouth the second they left
looking so guilty afterward
the way they gloated and collected data and prognosticated about his future job prospects and potential success-
\ certainly not as good as those who waited, they said
it was something about self-control
i know all too well that when he got home
\ there were probably no sweets
\ or if there were, they were there for a moment only
\ before being snatched away by either cruel hands or circumstance
\ no guarantee that promises meant anything, much less that they were kept.
if it had been me in that chair
\ i’d have eaten it too.
- I don't know what study you are referencing, but in ALL the behavior analytic literature on "self-control" that I know of, the experimenters provide the reinforcement as part of the study. Not only that, but there are usually repeated trials with the same individual to establish a baseline and some sort of experimental treatment to see if self-control-related behaviors can be shaped. If the research is done with individuals who are children or have Developmental Disabilities, they usually ask that whatever the reinforcers are be restricted for some amount of time prior to experimental sessions to minimize outside influence on the study. So, families are usually asked not to give that specific candy, or whatever, to the individual during the trial, but there will be a handful of opportunities to receive some.

Itt:
People not seeing the marshmallow speak, or bite the kid. Or the horrified look on the kids face.
- Oh my god THAT'S why his face is like that and THAT'S the joke. I really didn't get this comic.
  
  Took me D_C's comment to get it and even then it took me a minute to find the marshmallow and realize it wasn't on the plate anymore 🤦🏻

Turns out the test is only a good predictor of "how well you can trust the adults in your life to keep their words". Which tells more about the envirement than about the kid.

Why is this slightly calvin but not quite

I would give you an upvote now, but I'd rather delay my gratification give you 2 later

The original experiment boils down to being a zip code test anyway
- Well, was it worth learning that about it?
- Double-blind placebo controlled randomized skin color test

I'd have the one just so I don't have to wait 5 minutes to get out of that weird ass test.
- the study didn't account that many kids assumed the guy was lying

I don't get it
- "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.