Consider: Imagine that you were invited to participate in Walter Mischel’s experiment called the “marshmallow test” when you were a child (age 3, 4, or 5). Predict how you would have responded (at age 3, 4, or 5) to the marshmallow test (which used different candies, crackers, and snacks, not just marshmallows).
Respond to all three questions in 175+ words (total).
- Would you have been able to exercise willpower, self-regulation, and delayed gratification (at age 3, 4, or 5)? Why or why not?
- What techniques did you use or (in reflection) should have used to delay gratification?
- Based on your (hypothetical) response to the marshmallow test, what might Skinner’s Behaviorist theory have to say about your childhood personality? Incorporate these 2 terms in your response:
- Social control – Ch. 16, p. 519
- Self-control, Ch. 16, p. 520