Monday, January 18, 2016

Research-based Strategies to Help Children Develop Self-Control

Good morning,

Today we are sharing an article from KQED News entitled, 'Research-based Strategies to Help Children Develop Self-Control.' This article talks about the famous "Marshmallow study" and how over fifty years of research has proven that children who were who were able to show self-control fared better on a variety of indices, including higher SAT scores, better ability to cope with stress and a lower body mass index. We have shared the beginning of the article below. To continue reading the full article, please visit: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/01/11/research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control/

Research-based Strategies to Help Children Develop Self-Control
By Katrina Schwartz
JANUARY 11, 2016


It all started when psychology professor Walter Mischel was watching his four closely-spaced daughters growing up. He realized he had no idea what was going on in their brains that made it possible for a child who at one moment had no impulse control and just a few months later could inhibit her emotions, wait for things and have conversations. He became curious about how children develop these skills, which led to the famous marshmallow experiment conducted at the Bing Nursery School on Stanford’s campus, where Mischel was a professor.


That study has become famous over the last 50 years, leading to many hilarious YouTube videos (none of which are the original test subjects) and a lifetime’s work examining how various strategies can help both adults and children learn to delay gratification.

In the original marshmallow study, researchers spent time building up trust and rapport with their 4-year-old subjects before starting the experiment. The researcher then told the child that she was going to leave him in the room with a treat (cookie, pretzel or marshmallow) and if he waited to eat it until she returned, she would give him two marshmallows. Alternatively, the child could put an end to his misery by ringing the bell, at which point the researcher would return, but the child would get only the one treat. Mischel and his colleagues followed the test subjects over the next 50 years and found that those who were able to wait fared better on a variety of indices, including higher SAT scores, better ability to cope with stress and a lower body mass index.

Original article source: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/01/11/research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control/



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