Funny story I hear from my childhood that I have been told is about my cousin and I.
We were raised close only two years apart. As a kid she was just bad and well if I’m
being honest, she isn’t much better as an adult. Anyway, my mom said she sat a
bowl for of m&m’s our favorite snack down in front of us each. She told us both to
wait until she got back, and we could have the whole bowl but if we didn’t, we could
only have five. I waited because I wanted the whole bowl, but she wanted hers
immediately, so she ate her five before my mom got back. Skinner would identify her
behavior as lack of self-control. While I believe that there are other factors to her
personality that is the cause, but her entire life is based on lack of self-control. She
has also never been held accountable. As a child or an adult she has never been
given a harsh enough punishment. Whereas, my parents offered me positive
reinforcements, encouraged me to do the right things as well as punishing me when
I was bad.
In response to this week's question. I would have to say I would have probably would
have followed through with the experiment. My problem is as a child I lacked all self
control. Even as an adult there are times that I find it hard to control myself. My
problem is not sweet so the marshmallow control would not have been hard,
however if they tried with potato chips that would have been a different story. I had
major eating problems as a kid. I was talked about and bullied unmercifully. So that
kind of test would probably have set me over the edge. I have had to work really
hard on my control issues. I have punished myself by trash talking myself, starved
myself, so many things that were just beyond my control at the time. It took me a
long time to get comfortable with myself and being in my skin. I have gotten a lot
better with my self control but when I find myself in super stressful situations then I
have to talk to myself a lot to keep me under control. I'm sure that would fall under
several of the people we have studied. From Freud being born with certain traits to
Skinner who thought that traits developed over time. I think I have a combination of
both.
Honestly, how I would've done on the marshmallow test as a child depends on a lot
of factors. For example, who's giving the test--have they proven that I can hold them
to their word, at least on small matters like an extra marshmallow? How old am I
when the test is given? Am I hungry?
The test was designed as a test of self-control, but there are countless other factors
that play into it. Some children learn not to trust people very early on in life--that
adults might forget about them, or take away a reward as punishment for
something, or simply lie to them. On a much larger scale than a simple
marshmallow, I learned by the time I was 10 that although schools claim to be anti-
bullying, it's not uncommon for victims to get in as much trouble as the bully, if not
more, as just one example. Some children will eagerly snatch up any treat they get
because they don't get them often, and so on and so forth. Even the factor of hunger
is worth noting; even now as a grown adult, who among us is willing to take the time
to make a full meal when hungry instead of just making a TV dinner or something?
I'm certainly not, even though I know the result is better; if I'm hungry, I want to eat
ASAP.
