The marshmallow test

One marshmallow now or two later?

The marshmallow test is a book that explores the underlying physiological and psychological mechanisms that enable humans to delay gratification and enjoy better rewards in the future.

The book is based around the experiments of a psychologist who gave children in a preschool an option to get a treat(chocolate, sweets etc) now or wait a little bit to get more rewards later.

In a nutshell the book is about how the renown “self control” works and how people can master it despite their genetic predisposition. It’s quite intriguing because such battles have been deemed always spiritual or psychological as in most in religions the gist of everything is sacrificing a bit now and resisting temptation( Which Adam and Eve could not do) to later have eternal life or the desired goal eventually.

Background: When in front of a situation where you have to decide to enjoy now or think carefully about the future there are two systems involved.. There is the “HOT SYSTEM” which is composed of the mid-brain structures which drive anger, sexual desire, thirst and all the basic need which have facilitated the survival of our species. Then there’s the “COOL SYSTEM” which is located in the prefrontal cortex of dominant brain hemisphere(left side for right handed people) this system is involved in cognitive processes like rational thinking, analysing situations and making informed decisions…

The hot system is helpful in situations that need immediate reactions, just imagine you have touched a hot cooker plate and you first start analysing the effects of severe burns before withdrawing your hand it will do you more harm than good.But when this system is dominant you can make very impulsive which you will just regret after careful analysis.

The author explores how we can be able to activate the cool system to cool our hot impulsive desires and be able to analyse situations making it possible for us to have the ability to delay gratification. He also explores how we can channel the impulsive energy of the hot system.There’s indeed a lot to learn in this book that it take pages to even summarise.

One important note is this book is that contrary to popular belief traits like “self control” quite alright can be influenced by genetic factors but the brain is a very malleable organ and the capacities of neuroplasticity are far more influential than people think.Genes are just as important as environments and nurture and nature are just dependent on each other. So in the right environment and enough effort people can considerably improve their lives than they initially thought.

But with any form change and whichever techniques are employed the key ingredient is willingness to improve.

This is a good book and very educative from a psychological, educational and just general perspective and I would encourage you to read it.

Chungamu