In a room with nothing more than a table and chair, not a psychologists and medical doctors, presented by Paul Tough single distraction existed for the 4 to 6-year-old child. Nothing, in How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power except a marshmallow. of Character, argues that character is more crucial than the IQ The fluffy treat sat alone on the table, placed there minutes measured on standard tests in achieving success. before with the promise of a second marshmallow to come if Character. she didn’t eat the first. This goes against the popular thought that to be successful Delayed gratification. Self control. Strategic reasoning. children need as much cognitive stimulation as possible in the These qualities, according to psychologists Walter Mischel first three years of life in order to arrive in kindergarten ready and Ebbe B. Ebbesen who first conducted this experiment at to learn, the result of the 1994 Carnegie Corporation report Stanford University in 1970, would result in life sucStarting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest cess. Children. Christin Davis Yet, just one third of the original 600 children to Just think “Baby Einsten” sales ($20 million beis the managing take part in the experiment resisted long enough to fore it was acquired by the Walt Disney Company editor of New Frontier in 2001). receive the second marshmallow. So what is it that Publications. makes some children succeed while others do not? To clarify, this research does not downplay the importance of education, but rather is shifting And what can we do to guide kids toward success? Photos the thought, as Tough writes, from “what matters New research from economists, neuroscientists, courtesy of Ed Covert and Julia Yu
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