The Marshmallow Test

Mastering Self-Control

De: Walter Mischel

Narrado por: Alan Alda

Renowned psychologist Walter Mischel, designer of the famous Marshmallow Test, explains what self-control is and how to master it.

A child is presented with a marshmallow and given a choice: Eat this one now, or wait and enjoy two later. What will she do? And what are the implications for her behavior later in life?

The world's leading expert on self-control, Walter Mischel has proven that the ability to delay gratification is critical for a successful life, predicting higher SAT scores, better social and cognitive functioning, a healthier lifestyle and a greater sense of self-worth. But is willpower prewired, or can it be taught?

In The Marshmallow Test, Mischel explains how self-control can be mastered and applied to challenges in everyday life - from weight control to quitting smoking, overcoming heartbreak, making major decisions, and planning for retirement. With profound implications for the choices we make in parenting, education, public policy and self-care, The Marshmallow Test will change the way you think about who we are and what we can be.

©2014 Walter Mischel (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Excerpts from David G. Myers, “Self-Serving Bias,” in This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking edited by John Brockman (New York: Doubleday, 2012), 37–38. Used with permission. Quotes from George Ramirez are printed with permission. Excerpts from Sesame Street script for episode 4412 are reprinted with permission. “Sesame Workshop”®, “Sesame Street”®, and associated characters, trademarks, and design elements are owned and licensed by Sesame Workshop. © 2014 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved.

Interesting.. more academic than practical

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

The book presents a summary of a lot of the academic literature surrounding self control and willpower. Would have liked more practical applications but I think it is buried in there, you just need to extract it. Interesting to have Alan Alda do the reading.

Too much justification and research explanation

Concepts for implementation are good, really! But the hours & hours of explanation are nothing I have time for. Skip to chapter 20.

very informative

I like that it not only explains the process and benifits of delayed rewards, but also instructs how to learn to use them in our own lives

great reading, keeps you engaged

I thought the topic was interesting but I'm not a big fan of self-help books. But the reading kept me engaged and gave me information that really helped in my goals for reading the book.

Outstanding analysis of the human brain & behavior

I loved it from the first page... it's an extraordinary compilation of studies around the human mind. Scientific theories and research well translated into common, understandable lenguage.