This is a cognitive task aiming to assess whether kids can trade a small reward now for a bigger one later (it tests inhibitory control and ability to project oneself in the future). This experiment was conducted by comparative psychologists and, if I recall well, they also compared the kid’s performance to that of some primates to understand the evolution of the human mind.
I get that, I’m just pointing out that depending on how it was conducted it may have been silly. Sort of similar to that test where there’s nothing in a room but a button that shocks you and people got bored and shocked themselves. I’m not suggesting the study is invalid, I assume the researchers know better than me, but I could also see something like a kid just sitting at a table with literally nothing to do but salivate about the thought of two treats for a time period. Seems like a better test would be something like letting kids play and then doing this (which could’ve been what was done. It’s just that the comic seems to imply otherwise.)
Such a silly experiment. You’re gonna make them sit and be bored for five minutes with nothing else to do besides thinking about two marshmallows?
This is a cognitive task aiming to assess whether kids can trade a small reward now for a bigger one later (it tests inhibitory control and ability to project oneself in the future). This experiment was conducted by comparative psychologists and, if I recall well, they also compared the kid’s performance to that of some primates to understand the evolution of the human mind.
I get that, I’m just pointing out that depending on how it was conducted it may have been silly. Sort of similar to that test where there’s nothing in a room but a button that shocks you and people got bored and shocked themselves. I’m not suggesting the study is invalid, I assume the researchers know better than me, but I could also see something like a kid just sitting at a table with literally nothing to do but salivate about the thought of two treats for a time period. Seems like a better test would be something like letting kids play and then doing this (which could’ve been what was done. It’s just that the comic seems to imply otherwise.)