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C0297‐S0164‐E0000
Success, in all of its many forms, is used in society frequently and describes many different outcomes and scenarios.
After watching the Marshmallow Experiment and reading the article “Don’t! The secret of self‐control” written by John
Lehrer, it was apparent that there were certain traits linked to a successful life. These traits were represented in the
“high‐delayers”, or the subjects who succeeded when participating in the marshmallow experiment performed by Dr.
Walter Mischel. But being a high‐delayer does not necessarily mean that you will succeed and vice versa. Success can be
interpreted in many ways, so there must be many ways to achieve it. Personal definitions of success are evident
throughout the world, but it is hard to be sure which one is correct. This leads to the fact that different forms of
attaining success must be used when facing different situations resulting in a personal success. Involving both logic and
spontaneity is the way that I see fit when working to achieve success. When facing the winding road to success, choices
must be made concerning the methods chosen to attain it, but contrary to John Lehrer’s article, being a high‐delayer will
not always ensure your definite success. Being a high‐delayer is not the only option given to make sure that you
will succeed in life. Although in the article “Don’t! The secret of self‐control” John Lehrer explains how in Dr. Walter
Mischel’s “marshmallow experiment” children who waited for a second marshmallow were more likely to succeed later
in life (Lehrer n pag), the ability to wait is not the only way to make success possible. Spontaneity is also an important
part of reaching success. There are times when waiting for something better to come along will not be beneficial and
accepting what is handed to you will, in turn, be helpful. Even though the term “settling” tends to refer to giving up and
just accepting undesirable things, it can be used complimentarily to a situation. At times, settling for what is before you
in the present is the better choice when compared to waiting for something more desirable to appear. There will always
be opportunities to achieve a higher level of success so, in a sense, accepting present opportunities and later working for
better ones is equivalent, if not more beneficial, than being a high‐delayer. Aside from this one example, there are
other events where being a high‐delayer is not always coveted. In a “suppression task” given to an equal amount of both
high‐ and low‐delayers in “Don’t! The secret of self‐control”, subjects were given four random words, two printed in red
and two in blue. The subjects were told to remember the red words and were then given “probe words” and asked
whether they were the words they were asked to remember (Lehrer n pag). Although high‐delayers tended to perform
better on this task, the low‐delayers showed a trait that will help them to achieve success in certain situations. The low‐
delayers tended to believe that words they were told to forget were words that they should remember, and this
suspicion can be very useful. Trusting everything that is told to you is not always beneficial. There will be times when
being suspicious is helpful, especially when on the path to achieve success. People may attempt to distract you from
your course and listening to them will not show you in the direction of the obtainment of success. This example proves
that low‐delayers can have traits more beneficial than those possessed by high‐delayers. All things considered,
being a low‐delayer does not condemn one to a life with an absence of success. John Lehrer even mentions in “Don’t!
The secret of self‐control” that Mischel is excited by the people who failed the marshmallow experiment as four‐year‐
olds but eventually made their lives more successful as they became adults (Lehrer n pag). Low‐delayers can break the
unfortunate chain of mishaps among their peers and become equally as successful as a high‐delayer would be. Although
John Lehrer has shown in his article that out of all of the subjects who participated in the marshmallow experiment the
high‐delayers tended to be more successful later in life, given the traits that many low‐delayers possessed, being a high‐
delayer is not the only way to succeed in life. The word success has the potential to be interpreted in various ways. It
is a term generally associated with a positive outcome, so people usually have different ideas about what is considered a
success. Some may say that it concerns the amount of money or material items you possess while others view it as an
honorable rank among society. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary provides four possible definitions for the
word success and although they are all logical definitions, the true definition of success does not lie in a simple phrase
that is easily understood by many. Success represents a light at the end of a tunnel, the end to many obstacles or
troubles that have been faced. A portion of success can only be achieved through hard work, self‐control, and patience,
yet there are times when it also entails spontaneity. It calls for both logic and what, at the time, may seem unreasonable
actions. Success can be as simple as receiving a reward after a task is completed or as complicated as receiving a sought
after occupation after completing many challenging years of school. Success is similar to an award you may be presented
with for competing in sports or academics. You may struggle or complain when striving to achieve the award, but once it
is finally in your hands, nothing but bliss can be felt. This seven‐letter word may appear fairly simple, but in reality it
holds a meaning that consequently makes people work extremely hard and attempt to control the urge to make
thoughtless decisions. Success is the moment when you receive the reward, materialistic or not, that you have been
striving for during all of the labor and mindless work you have endured. This miniscule word, that cannot even cover a
page of paper in size 72 font, is packed with emotions such as happiness and content. The possibility of success supplies
a reason to work hard for what you desire and use many different methods to try to achieve it. When asked the
question, “What’s your definition of success?” it is hard to describe one’s answer using a brief sentence. So, in
conclusion, I must say that my definition of success is not the act of getting what you desire, but the joyous feeling that
accompanies the desirable result attained through hard work and labor. In the article “Don’t! The secret of self‐
control”, the strategies used to achieve success discussed by John Lehrer are both similar and different from personal
strategies that I currently use to try to become successful. The strategies described in the article focus on being a high‐
delayer, which proved to be helpful when trying to achieve success later in life (Lehrer n pag). I agree with this method
of attaining success, but I also use other methods depending on the situation that I am facing. It is quite important to
maintain a strong level of self‐control and patience when working your way towards a specific goal. Some outcomes can
only result from periods of waiting, so having the traits of a high‐delayer can being greatly beneficial when facing these
situations. On the contrary, there are times when quick decisions must be made and everything that you may have
followed when previously trying to acquire success must be forgotten. It is in times such as these that I use a method of
achieving success that differs from those mentioned in “Don’t! The secret of self‐control”. This method refers to the
ability of surprising others as well as yourself with your actions. When choices have to be made in a short period of time,
taking a chance and trusting your instincts may be the smartest route to choose. Although the outcome is not always
preferred, it still provides a way to obtain success, whether it takes days or years. These two methods of
achieving success may contrast greatly, but they both can be extremely effective. The strategies that are included in the
article “Don’t! The secret of self‐control”, are very logical and can work to one’s advantage, but my own personal
method also has benefits. Using a combination of these forms of obtaining success I have managed to have various
successes within the short period of time that I have lived. In conclusion, the forms used to achieve the
complicated thing that is success may vary, but there is no limit to the types of people that are able to succeed. “Don’t!
The secret of self‐control” may say that high‐delayers usually performed better than low‐delayers in various categories
of life (Lehrer n pag), but it also presents the fact that there were low‐delayers who eventually succeeded. This proves
that the feeling of pure joy representing success can be obtained by different type of people in many ways, whether it is
by logic or luck.
Comments: You advance the claim that being a high delayer is one of many possible ways of achieving success in life.
This is accomplished effectively by your use of textual evidence from Johan Lehrer’s essay. Rather than merely stating
that something is a certain way, you link your claims or ideas to specific quotes and then go on to analyze how the
quote adds to your own position in the essay. You make some original and interesting claims by pointing out how
being suspicious may also be an asset in the development of success in life. What would have been interesting to see
in your essay was a challenge or critique of the ways in which success is being approached by the marshmallow tests.
You begin to do this in your paper, but you do not develop this beyond the point of quickly raising it in the essay.
Your essay is well thought out and enjoyable to read.
Grade: B+
thesis
B Thesis articulated from Takes some interpretive risks Sustained meaningful Minimal errors
the outset with text structure Minimal or no
Advances independent Works with a variety of textual Reasonable coherence in mechanical, citation
ideas evidence presentation or formatting errors
Thesis more coherent Texts used in service of project Controlled development
than C‐level and to provide support for it of thesis
Thesis may be somewhat Smoother transition and
limited or developed in a topic sentences than C‐
repetitive way range
C+ Has a thesis but not Moments of solid work with Has relationships between Sentence level
clearly articulated from texts and use of adequate paragraphs errors under control
outset textual evidence Transitions and topic May have some
Moves toward Engages in more complicated sentences begin to mechanical, citation,
independent thesis, ideas in readings emerge or formatting errors
showing an emerging Connective thinking may be Has some coherence but
coherence of ideas implicit lacks meaningful structure
found in B‐range papers
C Thesis emerges at end of Works with more than one Some coherent Sentence level
paper from discussion of source relationships between errors do not
the text Vague sense that student’s paragraphs significantly impede
Takes clear position at voice is contributing to the Paragraphs may exhibit meaning
least once conversation “emerging topic Some mechanical,
Thesis may be vague or Adequate reading sentences” citation, and/or
general comprehension and use of formatting errors
textural evidence
NP No thesis in evidence Poor reading comprehension/ Little coherence from Sentence level
Thesis buried in misinterpretation paragraph to paragraph errors impede
summary Lacks meaningful connection Lacks organizational meaning
Little or no relationship between texts or with structure Patterns of error
between texts and thesis student’s own position Weak use of paragraphs, Failure to proofread
Privileges student’s ideas with few or no clear topic Serious errors in
Weak use of textual evidence sentences citation conventions
Over‐generalizes about the
text
Source: http://wp.rutgers.edu/courses/courselisting/60‐course‐listing/55‐355101
C0213‐S0097‐ETS30
High Delayers: The only path to success?
Is being a "high delayer" the only way to achieve "success" in life? In Jonah Lehrer’s article “Don’t! The secret to
self control,” we see how Dr. Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow experiment can tell apart disciplined children from
their mischievous peers. The ones who demonstrate self control usually do better in school and are more likely to
succeed in their adult life. However, is self discipline the only way to become successful? Actually, my beliefs are quite
the contrary, and for many reasons. Success can be achieved in recognition of any talent or uniqueness of the person,
such as a rock star. Such people are not usually dependent on self control in order to prosper and make a fortune, if that
is what being “successful” really is. Prevalence has its own definition to an individual. Someone may reflect upon their
self image, relationships, and economical disposition and conclude that they are successful. Another in the same spot,
having different ideology, might be disappointed with their current state and shall strive to become prosperous. In this
way, one can be successful. Majorities of people make the word "success" synonymous with "rich" and "famous".
However, success is only definable by what an individual perceives it to be. As stated, success is one’s personal
standard of self content/fulfillment. I define success as being happy with who you are and what you do. Feeling good
about yourself and your place in the world is the key to success. If you are always miserable and anti‐social, how can you
consider yourself content? You could be the richest, most acknowledged person in the world, and still consider yourself
unsuccessful if you feel something is missing from your life. Money can’t buy happiness. As long as the individual has a
positive attitude and stays open minded he/she can be successful doing odd jobs for a lifetime. For example, the film
“The Bucket List” tells the story of two old men who have months to live, due to a fatal illness. One is rich, and the other
is a common mechanic. They go on having fun, but when their time is drawing near, they separate and return home. The
rich man is constantly depressed because he is single and has no one, while the common man resides in peace alongside
his vast loving family. Success truly is self satisfaction. As for me, the strategies used to achieve success differ greatly
from those that Dr. Mischel had discovered. Dr. Mischel’s method relies solely upon distraction. “Instead of getting
obsessed with the marshmallow—the “hot stimulus”—the patient children distracted themselves by covering their eyes,
pretending to play hide‐and‐seek underneath the desk, or singing songs from “Sesame Street.” Their desire wasn’t
defeated—it was merely forgotten,” writes Ms. Lehrer. However, my methods consist of stimulating oneself by using
scare tactics. I dwell upon the problem, let it really get inside me and drive me insane with guilt and agony, for what
worse pain than being driven into the ground and brutally dismayed by your own stress! Then, will all these feelings of
anxiety upon me, I tell myself that it will all just disappear if I do what I must, and do it properly. Then, with such feelings
still upon me, I set out and pour all of my effort and focus my thought onto completing the task at hand. Whether you
simply distract yourself or knowingly drive yourself into blinding rage and agony, if there is a will, there is a way.
Comments: In your essay you describe success as something that is different for each person. This is a bit of a
problematic position, since it essentially puts the topic of success outside of the realm of discussion since the
definition and importance of success varies greatly from one person to another. Your essay does not engage directly
with the essay question. You do state that you do not belief that being a high delayer is the only way of achieving
success, but you do not go much further beyond this claim. Another issue in your essay is that you do not engage
with Johan Lehrer’s essay. You provide the reader with a generalized summary of what the marshmallow tests were,
but then drift away from Lehrer’s essay to talk about success in a generalized way. Remember that writing at the
college level means engaging directly with the texts that you are using. Locating and using key quotes as textual
evidence is an important and sophisticated way of developing your own position in dialogue with the positions and
claims of the texts that you are utilizing.
Grade: NP
C0266‐S0089‐ETS15
The Secret of Success
Judging from the marshmallow experiment, we can conclude that “high delayers” are usually more successful in life.
However that is not always the case. “High delayers” don’t necessarily achieve more success, and their “success” may
seem like failure in other people‘s eyes.. The result of an experiment done at childhood does that determine the
outcome of that child’s future. Success is not always defined by monetary wealth or how socially adept you are. So in
that “success” people are trying to achieve can mean many different things. “Success” can mean to have a stable life
while not having that much money, while other may interpret it in that you have a by a measure of monetary wealth. In
a way all “successes” have means in which to acquire them no matter what they be. And as the methods differentiate
between certain people’s interpretations of success, they can range greatly. So is being a “high delayer” the only way to
achieve success? The experiment supposedly tests a child’s level of self‐control and from these results
they determine the success level of that child. Supposedly, children who can restrain themselves from eating the
marshmallow are more successful. The children who chose immediate gratification by eating the marshmallow before
the man comes back with another are supposedly less successful. The marshmallow test represents the choices in life.
One choice, to eat the marshmallow first is the choice that offers immediate satisfaction, while the other offers a greater
reward, at the price of waiting longer. One example of this is the system of stocks. When the chance comes to sell your
stocks at a high price, and you take it, then you took the path to immediate gratification. If you wait and bide your time
for the long term gain, you ultimately gain more in the long run. Even still, “high delayers” with their
higher chances of success may not appear successful in other people‘s eyes. My definition of success is having a stable
job, no matter how much the pay as long as I have a high chance of keeping it throughout my life. Also, in addition of a
stable profession, other aspects of my definitions of “success” are having a family, and the most important part of
success is being happy with it. One person’s definition might be a more down to earth goal of success might be having a
stable job and a family while another person might have a more far‐fetched goal of earning a billion dollars. The latter
might look upon the first’s “success” and think that that person is still not successful. So in that sense, due to the varying
standards of success, “high delayers” may not appear successful to others. As with the different
“successes” there are varying ways of achieving them. The article “Don’t! The Secret of Self Control.” states that the best
way to achieve success is being a “high delayer” and by having a degree if self‐control, you will be more successful. That
all depends that that person’s definition of success. In certain scenarios, being a high delayer can be your downfall. For
example, a young man could be looking for a job. Then, a he is offered a job in a very prestigious company. As many
people are applying for the job, he has a very limited time to decide. However, the man does not think he is up for the
job and spends too much time pondering over his decision. In that time, the job is already taken and the man loses a
major chance at success. A situation like this would require a decisive, quick‐thinking person. The factor of being a “high
delayer” can be harmful, as the path to success is full of choices. “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for
his opportunity when it comes." by Benjamin Disraeli, magnifies on the importance of being quick and decisive in
decisions. While that person is deciding what road to take, it may already be taken by a person who is more decisive in
his actions. My method of achieving success would be to be quick and decisive in my choices, as you have to take as
many chances that life throws at you, even if you cannot get all of them. The marshmallow experiment
may give an idea of how a child may perform later in life. However, it does not determine the level of success that child
will have in life. The experiment does not determine your success level, it just tests your degree of self‐control. Even so,
if “high delayers” feel successful themselves, other people may see them as not yet successful. Also, being a “high
delayer” does not guarantee success. It just gives that person an edge, as you need to pick a good method in which to
achieve success. So is being a high delayer the only way to achieve success? The answer is no. It all depends on that
person and the situation for them to achieve the goal of their lives.
Comments: In your essay you claim that being a high delayer is not a guarantee that one will become a success in life,
but rather that success is gained by those who know how to respond to any situation that arises in life. Couldn’t this
be identified as a high delayer? Within the context of the marshmallow tests the high delayers are able to restrain
themselves from eating the marshmallow in order to receive two marshmallows. You are identifying this as
hesitation, or simply as being too concerned with thinking things over. However, is it not possible to identify a high
delayer as someone who is capable of making solid decisions based upon the expected outcome? If this is true, then
your claim that a high delayer would be more likely to hesitate and miss an opportunity to take an incredible job is
not very convincing. Also, you do not engage with Johan Lehrer’s essay at all. You summarize certain information
from the essay, but you fail to incorporate quotes that can be analyzed and used as a spring board for the
development of your own position. Writing at the college level requires you to actively engage with the texts that
you are using, and to be able to develop your own position in a conceptual dialogue that develops between the
position and claims of the texts that you are using and those claims or positions which you are developing within your
essay.
Grade: NP
C0252‐S0171‐ETS74
Dr. Walter Mischel’s famous "marshmallow experiment” which was designed to test the self control of toddlers, caused
scientists to stumble upon a few interesting discoveries; children that couldn’t wait to eat the marshmallow often had
behavioral problems in school and received lower S.A.T. scores than those who had waited. In the countless recreations
of this experiment, scientists have found that the children who waited the fifteen minutes and got a second
marshmallow were more successful in life. What exactly do they call success though, and who are they to judge it? I do
believe that being a high delayer is the only way to achieve success in life, whatever you may define success as. I
believe that being a high delayer, meaning you have a high amount of self control, is the only way to be successful in life.
For instance if your boss assigns you a report on one of the company’s products and you have no self control, this may
be what happens: You leave work to go home, but you decide that you’re hungry (though you really know that you just
don’t want to go home and work quite yet) so you stop at the nearest McDonald’s (which is the farthest fast food
restaurant from your house) and you buy a cheeseburger. (even though you despise them) On the way home you get
stuck in rush hour traffic (it’s extra slow today) and when you finally get home at seven ’o’ clock you make dinner and
help your kids with homework. When the kids are in bed you are so tuckered out you wouldn’t even think about working
on it now, so you go to bed. Now you have no report to present to your boss and he’ll remember that when a chance
comes along to promote someone. However, if you had self control and immediately went home to work on the report
you could have had in done in less than an hour! Then your boss would have been happy and you would have been
happy. This is a win‐win situation. Most cases will occur like this, where if you have good self‐control than you’ll most
likely be successful. Whereas if you do not have good self‐control than you will most likely end up in some type of
situation that will not lead you to success. Being a high delayer, which means you have a high amount of self‐
control, means you’ll be successful, but what is successful? My definition of the word successful, is that you’re happy
with your life and what you do as a career , but success can be measured in other ways as well. Such as how much
money you make, what style house you live in, or even what kind of clothes your children wear. The only true definition
of successful, I believe, is how you feel about yourself. The strategies I use to achieve success are different than those
in the article. For example, I do not watch videos on how to improve my self‐control, and that is one of the methods
described in the article. Another method that was described in the article, is mental tricks such as imagining the candy
only as a picture. Again, I don’t use this method. All these methods are to improve your self control, and I do develop my
self control in other ways, such as saving my allowance instead of spending it. In conclusion, everyone’s definition of
success may be different but you must have self control to be successful. If you don’t have good self control, you might
want to start working on one now, you’ll be better suited for later in life. If we began developing a good sense of self
control in our children now, we will have a generation of nothing but progress! Perhaps, someday this marshmallow test
will no longer be needed to decide if a kid has self control, they all will!
Comments: You advance the claim that being a high delayer plays an important role in achieving success in life, which
is attributed to maintain a high level on self – control. You provide a fictional example which is intended to
demonstrate how this is true, although it is not as effective as bringing in quotes from Johan Lehrer’s essay would
have been. Being able to actively engage with other texts, as well as developing your own position through a
conceptual dialogue that develops over the course of an essay between your own positions or claims and those of the
texts that you are using is a sophisticated technique that is often employed in college level writing. Another issue
that arises from your essay is the complete absence of quotes from Lehrer’s essay. Bringing in complex quotes and
using those quotes as a spring board to develop your own position more clearly or strongly is a necessary element of a
successful college essay. Remember that critical analysis and development is always preferable to basic
summarization and opinion driven writing.
Grade: NP
C0426‐S0133‐ETS78
Success is a Virtue I vehemently oppose being a high delayer is the only way of achieving success in life. There are
many other ways that work amazingly. Being a high delayer is just one of the million ways. It depends on what the
situation is. If you delay doing your homework until the last possible second it is a horrible idea. If you delay eating the
marshmallow to receive a better prize, as in the article “Don’t!” by Walter Mischel, it is a fantastic idea. Being a high
delayer can help you or hurt you, when trying to achieve success in life. Success has endless meanings. One of the most
important meanings is being yourself. I do what I think is right. If I do my best I know I am achieving success in life.
Being myself will let success come in naturally. My strategies have an immense amount of things in common with
those stated in the article. In school I always wait my turn. If we are taking foul shots in gym, my well behaved friends
and I wait our turns patiently, much like Carolyn waited for her second marshmallow in the article. Some people in my
class act like animals. They just can’t wait to get their hands on the basketball. With evidence from the marshmallow
experiment, they probably will not succeed in life. Carolyn and I on the other hand, will probably succeed at most things
in life. I've talked about different qualities being a high delayer has. The best quality is being able to think before you
act. By delaying, you give yourself a chance to analyze the situation at hand. Without delaying, you start to jump to
conclusions without looking at the whole picture. Delaying and thinking is what made Einstein so brilliant.
Comments: You open up your essay by stating that being a high delayer is only one many ways to achieve success in life,
however, you go on to state that being a high delayer is one of the best chances of achieving success because it causes
people to be patient and to think clearly about what the consequences of a situation may be. This seems to be
contradictory and confusing. Another issue that emerges from your essay is that you are focusing on your own beliefs as
opposed to developing compelling evidence that will support the claims that you are making. An excellent source of
evidence for your essay would have been to incorporate and critically analyze quotes from Johan Lehrer’s essay. By
doing this you would be developing your own position in dialogue with the claims and positions of the texts that you are
utilizing. This is a stylistically sophisticated writing technique that is often employed in college level writing.
Grade: NP
C0423‐S0133‐ETS78
sources of the common reciprocations we receive regularly. As we would bump into something accidentally, we would
cause a reaction from whatever or whomever it is that we bumped into. Any number of situations could be borne from
just that ordinary happening. That situation for example, could be affected by the approach and attitude of the recipient
towards you because of your own actions, which was the bump. That person could show anger, but there is also the
possibility of regarding it with humor. How everything reacts and retaliates, like a domino effect that happens at every
overlapping moment, fusing together to create an incomprehensible harmony, alongside with the question of what the
origin of the actions on our part that sets these off are, is the result of a long search of answers for questions. Queries
such as “why does she act that way?”, “what will he do?”, and “why does everybody present themselves in this way?”
One cannot be blamed for wanting to know, by knowing these things, we would be able to accomplish and prevent more
things than ever before. Spouses would be able to communicate with understanding, friends would be made with more
ease and speed, and jobs could be fitted with even more appropriate employees since it would be simpler for the
employer to analyze whether the person is fit for it or not. Most of all we would find a better understanding of
ourselves, and a sense of how to find control by finding our own strengths. Most of all, by using these strengths, such as
self control, we can manipulate it so that it becomes a key, an easier road, in finding success. In order to find our
place in this constant exchange of cause and effect psychologists have been, for the longest of time, searching for the
perfect evaluation that clearly and accurately defines the character of an individual. One of these individuals is Walter
Mischel. The “slight, elegant man with the shaved head” in John Lehrer’s essay “DON’T! The secret to self control” and
the founder of the marshmallow experiment. Just as interesting as its name, this experiment is quite unique, but has
fundamental rules no more complex than a parent leaving their child for a moment, while a treat is also left behind. This
investigation was first held in the late nineteen‐sixties at the Bing Nursery School. Lehrer describes that “the room was a
little more than a large closet, containing a desk and a chair”. Now, to this setting add a child around four years old. A
researcher will first, before leaving the child the researcher will leave a treat of the child’s choice, and explain that they
could eat the marshmallow right away, but if they were able to wait while they step out for a few minutes and not eat
the marshmallow, they could have a second. If it were the child’s choice to eat the marshmallow without delay, they
were to ring the bell on the table. The researcher would come hurrying back, but the second marshmallow would be
forfeited. The majority of the children “struggled to resist the treat and held out for an average of three minutes”
as Lehrer says. Some ate the marshmallow without delay and didn’t even ring the bell. In Lehrer’s conclusion it was that
“about thirty percent of the children . . . successfully delayed gratification until the researcher returned some fifteen
minutes later. These kids wrestled with temptation but found a way to resist”. Walter Mischel was the professor of
psychology at that time in Stanford who was in charge of the experiment. “The initial goal of the experiment,” Lehrer
describes in his paper, “was to identify the mental processes that allowed some people to delay gratification while
others simply surrendered.” Over time, though, Mischel was able to make a connection to the “high delayers”, the
children who were able to wait for the second marshmallow, the “low delayers”, the children who didn’t wait, and how
their position in school as teenagers was affected by that. After gathering information about the teenagers who had
participated in the Bing experiment back in nursery school, he observed that in the data That low delayers . . . seemed
more likely to have behavioral problems, both in school and at home. They got lower S.A.T scores. They struggled in
stressful situations, often had trouble paying attention, and found it difficult to maintain friendships.” On the other
hand, Lehrer also writes that “the child who could wait fifteen minutes had an S.A.T. score that was, on average, two
hundred and ten points higher than that of the kid who could only wait thirty seconds. It is only evident that data shows
the high delayers as more successful, and that being a low delayer brings more disadvantages. Dr. David Walsh, featured
in a video posted on YouTube.com called “Dr Walsh Marshmallow WCCO Segment”, after holding a marshmallow
experiment modeled after Mischel’s, explains that “ a key success factor for [a] kid [is] the ability to say no to
themselves”. The belief of Dr. Walsh and Mischel both concur with each other. And that’s basically all that those kids in
the Bing Nursery School needed to do in order to prevent themselves from eating the marshmallow, to say no to their
selves. So in order to refrain from eating the tempting marshmallow a child must know how to deny themselves
that instant gratification of simply gobbling it up, but knowing how to do so is just as pertinent as having done it.
Psychologists had been basing their predictions for a person’s success relying on that person’s raw intelligence, but
Mischell believes that intelligence is not what should be focused. Lehrer emphasizes the point Mischel is making as he
“argues that intelligence is largely at the mercy of self‐control: even the smartest kids still need to do their homework.”
Which is true, you can be smart, but the only way you had attained that much knowledge was through studying, and
surely there are other things we wish to do instead of studying, especially with children. Lehrer reveals Mischel’s
answer to self control “based on hundreds of hours of observation, was that the crucial skill was the “strategic allocation
of attention”. Now, you won’t be able to approach a four‐year‐old and have them say that they used “strategic
allocation of attention” in order to stop themselves from eating the marshmallow. Instead, Mischel observed that the
children who did wait all had something in common. They did anything else other than acknowledging the scrumptious,
savory, sugary little pillow of goodness that was sitting right in front of their eyes. Lehrer continues that Instead of
getting obsessed with the marshmallow‐the “hot stimulus” –the patient children distracted themselves by covering their
eyes, pretending to play hide‐and‐seek underneath the desk, or singing songs from “Sesame Street”. The children had
never lost interest in the marshmallow in the first place. They had simply diverted their attention so that their appetency
for eating the marshmallow right away was dismissed. If we were all able to have fostered this knowledge in
the beginning, we would have had a better sense of self control by now than we ever had. Not only would we be able to
refrain from eating, like marshmallows, with that we could have done more and made use with the time we had to be
more constructive. For a student, instead of plopping onto the bed as soon as you get home and snoozing until seven ‘o
clock, ending up doing homework until midnight. This could easily avoided by changing the setting or point of view of
the student so that he or she would not feel sleepy. Maybe the student could go to a café or library to homework so
they won’t fall asleep, or invite a friend over for help. It’s the same thing as those little kids who started singing songs
from “Sesame Street” so as to distract their attention from the marshmallow. According to Mischel, this view of will
power also helps explain why the marshmallow task is such a powerfully predictive test. “If you can deal with hot
emotions, then you can study for the S.A.T. instead of watching television . . . It’s not just about the marshmallows.”
Having this view and sense of self‐control can be applied to daily life and is a key for success. If only we could
physically grab onto this “key” to success, even though in reality there is nothing to lay your hands on, such a thing
would make everything that much easier. Since denying oneself isn’t as simple as saying it. You need to turn words into
actions. Just like Mischel says that “if you don’t practice then you’ll never figure out how to distract yourself.” But now
the children of the modern day are at a disadvantage, making practice that much harder. Dr. Walsh says in the video
that “prior generations had a culture that supported the message of no. What’s difficult today is that we have a culture
that undermines that message.” Now the culture that the current generations are facing is one that doesn’t teach how
not to eat the marshmallow, as Dr. Walsh puts it, “we have a culture that says more fast easy fun”. This way of life
completely negates and ruins the lesson being taught with the marshmallow experiment, and having more sinister
affects on all else. Everything depends on the people for the economy, politics, and things like the media. Whether the
people fare well or poorly, it affects all of it. The problem here is that people fail to see the distances between two
essential things, and unfortunately this matter is not solvable by a prescription from an optometrist. Young adults for
example, are challenged the most with this. In cases that happen every day, such as “should a I do homework now and
do what I want later? or would it more commendable for myself if I get the fun of whatever please before doing
homework? Of course the ideal choice is to do the boring, harder work later, even though it doesn’t benefit them when
looking at the bigger picture of their life. No one would think that saying “I never did homework first in all my life” is
something to be proud of, but actually knowing that you did first your whole life is what people admire and find more
appealing. This is where self‐control intervenes when you ask yourself the question “now or later?” how these two
balance out, whichever is greater, on the scale depends on the self‐control that you already possess. If a child possessed
the proper self‐control, that child would have no problem in It is dishonorable to reason out that taking action now and
taking action are corresponding, that is absent self‐control masked with reasoning, or excuses. This is when a person
fails to see the true consequences, and the distance between supplying our own rewards now or earning them in the
future. It’s the same as thing that those kids who participated in the marshmallow experiment had been asking
themselves. “Should I eat the marshmallow?” So the children who were followed for years after the marshmallow
experiment in the Bing Nursery School by Walter Mischell, showed relations between the high delayers, low delayers
and their own success, but the marshmallow test wasn’t created to predict the child’s future. This was disclosed by
Lehrer when he wrote “What we’re really measuring with the marshmallows isn’t will power of self control,” Mischel
says. “it’s much more important than that. This task forces kids to find a way to make the situation work for them. They
want the second marshmallow, but how can they get it? We can’t control the world, but we can control how we think
about it.” Mischel did not make a personality test that defined who we are. He created a test that helps us along the
pathway that defines who we are, and that helps us make our way to success. When people hear the word “success”
they envision riches and amazing luxuries, but that’s not what success really is. That’s only the part that you could want.
The truth to success is setting the goals. Just as the outcome of goals is success, the origin of a success is the goals set to
achieve them, because without each other both words have a meaningless existence. Having gold and gems, expensive
cars and clothing, fame and fortune all in your palm, these are not the things that first make us happy because there is
something that comes before that. I remember sitting down one night to watch a movie with my two siblings. It
was Disney’s newest movie, The Princess and the Frog. I had been expecting another typical love story that had
something to with magic and wishing stars, but by the end I was crying and proclaiming it to be my most favorite and the
best Disney movie I had ever seen. It was the story about a dark skinned woman, named Tiana, who lived in New
Orleans. She was hardworking and never took the time to dance or have fun. Even though her mother too had told her
to go find her prince charming and ease off of all the hard work and double jobs, she was too focused on her goal, the
dream both her father and she had carried together until he had passed away. She wanted to run a restaurant, “Tiana’s
Place”, where people would come from far away just to have a taste of her food. Nearing the end of the movie, in the
hands of Tiana was the voodoo man’s talisman which held the power to turn the world over to the evil spirits. As the
voodoo man purred in Tiana’s ears, telling her that he would give her that he would give her that restaurant she had
always wanted if she handed over the talisman to him. He waved his hand and there appeared faces of all the people
who had doubted her, and never understood why she worked so hard, and then her father, the man who told her that
wishing on a star only takes her half of the way, that in order to get her happily ever after, she had to make it true by
taking herself there. And yet, after all her father’s hard work, he had died without getting what he wanted. Tiana looked