With these kinds of things, I wonder how well we can extrapolate marshmallows to anything else in life.
The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
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Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#22I've come across variations of this conclusion many times now: That it is really your parents affluence and educational background that predicts your success in school and how much you will earn in the future. This is often portrayed as being unjust. To me it always seemed obvious that children with affluent and well educated parents are more likely to be intelligent, have good self-control and other traits that are useful for being successful, simply because those traits are hereditary.
Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#23[deleted]
Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#24I see so many forum discussions where posters criticise the poor for their 'weak' decisions and effectively blame the poor for their own plight. Why don't they just work harder and earn the money to pay for their healthcare and education? they say. It is easy to withhold funding from deprived areas if you convince yourself that it is their own fault. These results should be on the front pages of newspapers and on TV…
Yup - research seems to clearly indicate that financial stress has a significant effect on decision making.
> Contrary to the refrain that bad decisions lead to poverty, data indicate that it is the cognitive toll of being poor that leads to bad decisions. And actually, decisions that may seem counterproductive could be entirely rational, even shrewd.
...
> Even for people who are not in poverty, financial pressures can affect decision-making—and some companies are taking steps to address that.
http://review.chicagobooth.edu/behavioral-science/2018/artic...
Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#25Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#26Has anyone studied whether time preference might be genetically heritable? Edit: why am I being downvoted for this?
Because it's closely related to research on the genetic basis of intelligence. Poor research on these topics in the past have been used to justify rather egregious social policies (eugenics, birth control, racial discrimination, etc). Even if it is heritable, making the knowledge public can only lead to a sense of fatalism.
Doesn't matter, more knowledge is always to our advantage; not being politically correct is a terrible reason for withholding information. We'll never get better by burying our heads in the sand.
Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#27I see so many forum discussions where posters criticise the poor for their 'weak' decisions and effectively blame the poor for their own plight. Why don't they just work harder and earn the money to pay for their healthcare and education? they say. It is easy to withhold funding from deprived areas if you convince yourself that it is their own fault. These results should be on the front pages of newspapers and on TV…
Scarcity is an outstanding book about this, and makes the point that severe constraints on anything - money, food, free time - can have psychologically damaging effects.
In fact it’s extremely toxic - far more damaging than manynthings that have been banned now.
Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because it's closely related to research on the genetic basis of intelligence. Poor research on these topics in the past have been used to justify rather egregious social policies (eugenics, birth control, racial discrimination, etc). Even if it is heritable, making the knowledge public can only lead to a sense of fatalism.
So rather than try to improve the science we should just ignore the question?
It can be argued that gratification delay is more psychology related than genetics. And while it can be found a pattern on genes, probably it will be falsified like happened before with these kind of experiments.
Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#29I see so many forum discussions where posters criticise the poor for their 'weak' decisions and effectively blame the poor for their own plight. Why don't they just work harder and earn the money to pay for their healthcare and education? they say. It is easy to withhold funding from deprived areas if you convince yourself that it is their own fault. These results should be on the front pages of newspapers and on TV…
That's only relevant if you base your political opinions about this on some abstract "fairness" to the people involved.
Re: The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
#30Oh psychology! What would coastal mags for pseudointellectuals do without you?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯