This is a bit confused. When the “actual reward” is the result you seek by delaying, “tempting” yourself with it is the right idea. It’s unrelated rewards that our brains have trouble with, or rewards for inaction.
If the kids had to do something long and complicated to get their two marshmallows, it’d be no big deal. The problem is hard because they have to refrain from going after a reachable goal to get another, more abstract goal… and there’s nothing else for them to DO. If the instructions said they had to finish assembling a toy before the experimenter got back, in order to get two marshmallows, I predict a much higher rate of success would result.
Basically, the kids would choose two marshmallows over one, before their thoughts of the immediately-available marshmallow reached monoidealistic focus, and they would then quickly become monoideal on the activity of assembling the toy.
Even if they finished before the experimenter came back, their investment of time and effort would now weigh against giving in (especially if the instructions were to make a choice up-front).
Anyway, from a practical perspective, you’re better off using intrinsic than extrinsic rewards for your motivation. Extrinsic rewards dampen intrinsic motivation, and don’t distract you from the goal. Thinking about the inherent rewards of your tasks being completed (assuming these thoughts reach monoideal status) is motivating enough that you will actually do them “against your will” (or at least without any need for conscious will).
Once we resolve our own confusion and understand that the reward is the second marshmallow and not the first, we can ask if subjects have that confusion and how it affects the result. That is, in this case, focusing on the reward, the second marshmallow, which the subject associates with the first marshmallow because they are two instances of the same thing, causes the subject to focus on the first marshmallow (not the actual reward), which is counterproductive.
I wonder how the results would change, if the reward for not eating the marshmallow for 15 minutes were instead a cookie, so there would be less association between the reward and the treat the subject should avoid eating. Though this has the unfortunate effect of complicating the protocol of the subject choosing the treat they value, which seems to work well in the original experiment.
This is a bit confused. When the “actual reward” is the result you seek by delaying, “tempting” yourself with it is the right idea. It’s unrelated rewards that our brains have trouble with, or rewards for inaction.
If the kids had to do something long and complicated to get their two marshmallows, it’d be no big deal. The problem is hard because they have to refrain from going after a reachable goal to get another, more abstract goal… and there’s nothing else for them to DO. If the instructions said they had to finish assembling a toy before the experimenter got back, in order to get two marshmallows, I predict a much higher rate of success would result.
Basically, the kids would choose two marshmallows over one, before their thoughts of the immediately-available marshmallow reached monoidealistic focus, and they would then quickly become monoideal on the activity of assembling the toy.
Even if they finished before the experimenter came back, their investment of time and effort would now weigh against giving in (especially if the instructions were to make a choice up-front).
Anyway, from a practical perspective, you’re better off using intrinsic than extrinsic rewards for your motivation. Extrinsic rewards dampen intrinsic motivation, and don’t distract you from the goal. Thinking about the inherent rewards of your tasks being completed (assuming these thoughts reach monoideal status) is motivating enough that you will actually do them “against your will” (or at least without any need for conscious will).
Once we resolve our own confusion and understand that the reward is the second marshmallow and not the first, we can ask if subjects have that confusion and how it affects the result. That is, in this case, focusing on the reward, the second marshmallow, which the subject associates with the first marshmallow because they are two instances of the same thing, causes the subject to focus on the first marshmallow (not the actual reward), which is counterproductive.
I wonder how the results would change, if the reward for not eating the marshmallow for 15 minutes were instead a cookie, so there would be less association between the reward and the treat the subject should avoid eating. Though this has the unfortunate effect of complicating the protocol of the subject choosing the treat they value, which seems to work well in the original experiment.