In the 1960s at Stanford University's Bing Preschool, children were given the option of taking an immediate, smaller reward or receiving a delayed, larger reward by waiting until the experimenter returned. Since then, the "Marshmallow Test" has been used in numerous studies to assess delay of gratification. Yet, no prior study has…

Investigates the effects of giving preschool children plans to resist distraction and their resistance in a subsequent work situation. (Author/LLK)

An investigation of whether attention to rewards in the delay contingency might facilitate delay if such reward-oriented attention was made instrumental. Subjects were 80 preschool children. (SDH)

The effects of attention to symbolic presentation of contingent rewards, in the form of slide-presented images, on children's ability to wait for the delayed reward were investigated. Attention to the symbolic contingent rewards greatly increased the duration of the children's delay of gratification. (Author/KM)

Two studies traced the development of metacognitions about self-control in children from preschool through grade 6. Results indicated that children begin to understand two basic rules for effective delay of gratification by about the end of their fifth year. (Author/MP)

Proposes a two-system framework for understanding the processes that enable self-control as exemplified in the delay of gratification paradigm. A cool, cognitive "know" system and a hot, emotional "go" system are postulated. The interactions between these two systems allow explanation of findings on willpower from three decades…

Four experiments examine young children's verbal preferences and actual use of different attentional strategies for sustaining delay of gratification. Subjects were 272 preschool and 48 elementary school boys and girls. (MP)

A prospective study examined the effects of maternal unresponsivity and of toddlers' own negative affect on the child's subsequent ability to use effective attentional control strategies in preschool. Maternal and child behaviors were measured in situations that varied in the level of stress to test the hypothesis that behaviors in high stress…

Analyzes the nature of future-oriented self-control and the psychological processes underlying it. Reports that the self-control in four-year-old children reveals differences in delay behavior. (YP)

This study assesses the effects of three kinds of verbal plans, temptation-inhibiting plans, reward-oriented plans, and task-facilitating plans, on children's resistance to temptation. Each plan was studied in an elaborated and an unelaborated form. Subjects were 70 four-year olds, 35 boys and 35 girls. The major piece of apparatus employed was a…

Examined role of toddlers' attention deployment strategies in predicting 5-year-olds' delay-of-gratification strategies. Found that toddlers' use of effective attention deployment strategies to cope with separation from mother and with maternal behavior (controlling or noncontrolling) predicted effective delay-of-gratification strategies at age 5,…

This paper describes a program of research into children's understanding of psychological principles underlying social behavior. An initial study had indicated that at about 10 years of age children knew many of the basic principles of social behavior and the rules for social control. Two strategies were developed to explore these findings in…