The Marshmallow Test

In the late 1960's Walter Mischel, a Standford psychology professor, conducted a now-famous experiment on children and delayed gratification. In the test, children were left by a researcher in a room by themselves and given a treat, such as a marshmallow. They were told they could eat the marshmallow any time they wanted but if they could wait until the researcher returned, they would get two marshmallows.

The researchers then filmed the child and recorded how long they were able to wait. The results were interesting but not revolutionary. Some ate the marshmallow immediately while some were able to wait the entire time, up to 15 minutes.

The real surprise in these studies happened when Mischel decided to follow up 20 years later to see whether there were any long-term correlations ... he found some amazing results.