Self-control: The Secret of Success

Lehrer, Jonah. “Don't! The secret of self-control .” The New Yorker. Condé Nast Digital, 18 May 2010. Web. 4 March 2010.
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In his article,"Don't! The Secret of Self Control", Jonah Lehrer describes the experiments and observations of Walter Mischel. Mischel was a professor at Stanford University who led experiments in the late nineteen-sixties involving marshmellows to test children's ability to delay gratification. He and his colleagues continued to follow the progress of the young people through their thirties and concluded that the ability of a four-year-old to delay gratification is directly related to how successful he will be socially and intellectually as an adult. They conducted follow-up experiments which all pointed to the same conclusion, that self-control is more important than intelligence in determining how successful one is. The ultimate goal of Mischel and his colleagues is to "identify the particular brain regions that allow some people to delay gratification and control temper." They are also searching for "the hereditary characteristics that influence the ability to wait for a second marshmellow."

Jonah Lehrer writes from the point of view of a journalist reporting on important research that is being done in the area of psychology. Mischel's findings are significant and are having an impact on the way some parents and schools are training children. Mischel provides tricks for working with children that will help develop their ability to delay gratification and, as a result, improve their chance at a successful future. Lesson plans are being used in some schools that are based on his findings Mischel challenges parents to practice rituals at home that will help children develop the habit of being able to delay gratification. "According to Mischel, even the most mundane routines of childhood—such as not snacking before dinner, or saving up your allowance, or holding out until Christmas morning—are really sly exercises in cognitive training: we’re teaching ourselves how to think so that we can outsmart our desires." These are easy rituals to for anyone to incorporate and could help give children the tools they need to be successful.