New Twist on Famous Marshmallow Test: What Happens When You Add a Second Kid?

Our commitments to other people can have a big influence on how we act—even for children who are trying to keep themselves from snacking on a tasty treat right now. Peer support helped children pass the famous Stanford marshmallow test, which tests whether a child can resist a tempting treat long enough to receive an even bigger, better reward, according to a new study. The study, published May 7 in Royal Society Open Science, found that children are more likely to wait for a larger reward if they have a buddy who has pledged to hold out than if they’re alone. The findings show that promises can be a pretty powerful influence on people’s behavior, echoing previous studies that have found that explicit vows make children less likely to cheat and more likely to tell the truth. The original marshmallow test, conducted at Stanford in the 1970s, was fairly simple and exceptionally cute. An experimenter placed a marshmallow or other treat in front of a child before leaving them alone in a ... Read full article.