The Marshmallow Test

[normal]

Also, the promise of one more marshmallow after fifteen minutes of waiting hardly seems worth the kids' trouble. Why fucking bother?

Studies of the brain are important to get to know the creature we have (prematurely?) dubbed Homo Sapiens.

[normal]

Maybe she should put 2 marshmallows on the plate and lace one with poison, but don't tell the kid which one. See if he/she risks eating one.

Feck's point, I think, is that there's nothing concrete to encourage restraint. The promise of a second marshmallow pales next to the reality of the one in front of them. My avatar girl expresses that, I think.

And that is the point of the test. They are tested on what basis they can comprehend the more abstract idea of another marshmallow at the end.

[charlou]

I'm with tattachu. I don't like to see tests, particularly with children, where the person/s doing the testing have a preconceived idea about the rationale children work with.

This happens in our everyday interactions with children, too. The arbitrary (usually value laden) attribution of rationale to a child's behaviour rather than actually refraining from doing so and taking the time to learn from the child what their rationale is. By doing so we're actually molding children in the cast we set for them, the same memetic cast we were molded with.

Something I've posted before ...

From the cradle (even as early as during pregnancy) we are endowed with value laden labels, described as either good or bad (naughty), an angelic child or a little devil, depending on our demeanor and behaviour and how that is interpreted by those who bestow the labels, without consideration of the surrounding issues, of why we are the way we are or do the things we do, nor the effect that such attitudes and labeling has upon the the behaviour it seeks to label, and upon the psyche. We carry that baggage around with us throughout our lives, accumulating more and more along the way. In our quest to divest ourselves of such a burden we must acknowledge that we are neither inherently good or bad, and reconstruct our sense of self from a perspective of who we are in relation to the natural world, not who we are in relation to the imposed values and ideals of others.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There's no reason to test brain functions with somebody who hasn't grown one yet. Just sayin'.

[Animavore]

According to Marc Hauser's Moral Minds tests have shown that the kids that show restraint and take the 2 marshmallows usually do better in school and life in general.

Just saying

[normal]

Well, judging by what I know of the original test I can't see any reason to be outraged. It's just a simple test, and it's not made to scar anyone or judge them or put them in booths.

All in the name of gaining valuable information about the human brain and howw it develops.