The coding test says, "if you try harder you do better."
The marshmallow test says, "if you delay gratification you do better."
They're both testing from a curiosity about old fashioned values, it seems.
I finally made my kid's reward chart to reinforce behaviors I like seeing. I included "ask first" on the list. When I complimented him for "asking first" or "asking and taking no for an answer" I remembered the marshmallow test. I thought, "Stanford tested if a kid would resist temptation from one marshmallow with the promise of two marshmallows later. The kids who would were doing better in life later on when they followed up. What if a kid would just accept 'don't eat the marshmallow, you asked for it. I said not now, maybe later". Is it just the kid who will wait for the marshmallow in exchange for two? Is there a difference?
