Millions of parents have watched Joachim de Posada’s TED Talk of the famous marshmallow test performed at Stanford University. According to de Posada, 4-year-olds who were able delay gratification and not eat the marshmallow for 15 minutes (when they were awarded a second treat) went on to become more successful than those who quickly gave into cravings and devoured the sweet immediately. (Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn’t watched the talk: Two out of three kids didn’t make it to the second marshmallow.)
But now researchers are finding that you don’t need all that sugar to test teen’s abilities to delay gratification: instead, try texting (or not texting) to see who is truly able to exert some self-control. In an article in Education Week, reporter Sarah Sparks looks into students’ ability to resist the temptation to multitask (in this case, with social media and texting while performing other tasks), and if the ability to delay communication can predict academic success. Citing a 2011 study where college students watched a video lecture while researchers texted them, Sparks reports that those who responded faster to the messages scored worse on comprehension tests. Those who were able to hold off on reading and responding to texts score better.
So is the answer to remove cell phones from teens’ lives? Good luck with that. According to the article, a better approach would be to help student “to learn metacognitive skills to help them understand when and how to switch their attention between multiple tasks or technologies.”
Read the full article here.