A psychological experiment known as “the marshmallow test”
has captured the public’s imagination as a marker of self control and even as a
predictor of future success. This test shows how well children can delay
gratification, a trait that has been shown to be as important to scholastic
performance as traditional IQ.
New research from University of Pennsylvania psychologists
suggests, however, that changing one’s mind about delaying gratification can be
a rational decision in situations when the timing of the payoff is uncertain.