Procrastinating by posting about delayed gratification

[sabotabby]

rantipole6 posted this article about the "Marshmallow Test." Here is a video demonstrating it. I've been thinking about it all morning.

The test is simple: A small child is put in a room with a marshmallow. She is told that if she can sit there for 15 minutes and not eat the marshmallow, she will get two marshmallows. The experimenter then leaves the room and the child is alone with the marshmallow.

Sadism aside, this test is apparently a predictor of future academic and social success. The children who can delay gratification tend to get higher marks in school, are fitter, and have fewer behavioural problems than those who give into temptation. This is not surprising; think of the academic performance of a child who watches TV instead of doing homework, versus a child who studies first and then watches TV if he has time.

Because of a somewhat-misguided policy, I am only allowed to take off 10% for late assignments (and I seldom do that), which means that my kids often hand in their work late since they have no external motivation to complete assignments on time. But I don't need to take off late marks, because the students who hand in their assignments late (and thus have theoretically more time to complete the assignment than the ones who did it on time) almost always hand in work that is less complete and of lower quality than the students who are able to stick to timelines.

rantipole6 asks whether her readers are able to resist temptation. I responded that as a child, I'd have no problem passing the marshmallow test. I had much more self-discipline then than I do now. As you can see by the fact that this entry will be posted before I've finished writing my exams, as an adult, I'm terrible at delaying gratification, and accordingly, I'm far more stressed out than I need to be.

Another factor mentioned in that study is that children who have difficulty passing the marshmallow test can be taught techniques that will help them. The children who pass distract themselves by playing mental games. If a child is told to, for example, pretend that the marshmallow is a picture of a marshmallow with a frame around it, she is more likely to be able to hold out 15 minutes. Whether these tricks teach children skills that help them delay gratification outside of the test remains to be seen.

Now, when I think about it, I've always been a procrastinator. The difference is a matter of how I procrastinated. As a kid, I did the equivalent of imagining a frame around the marshmallow. Instead of writing my essay, I would write stories. I was seldom tempted by the TV. This didn't decrease my stress level (back in those days one did get in trouble for handing in late work), but it wouldn't decrease the quality of my writing either. Accordingly, while I wasn't necessarily the greatest at delaying gratification, it didn't seem to affect my academic performance. (Though, of course, it didn't help, and it resulted in me forming bad habits like blogging instead of doing my work.)

When I look at how my kids procrastinate, it's quite interesting. Some of the worst cases will not stop playing simple Flash games or refreshing Facebook (for simplicity's sake, I'll focus on the former waste of time, as I think the latter is a more complicated phenomenon). It doesn't matter how much I nag, wheedle, or threaten. They cannot seem to close the window, even if I threaten to send them to the office or tell them that they will get a lower mark on the assignment. It looks very much to me like a physical addiction. I can remotely control their computers, so out of desperation I sometimes log them out or blank their screens. They have been known to scream as if in pain when I do this.

The thing is, I am pretty sure they aren't getting any pleasure out of playing the games. I know, because I play those games too. (My weaknesses are Tetris and Space Invaders because I'm a 30-year-old hipster. Room Escape Games were also a problem for me for awhile.) It's repetitive, frustrating behaviour that's compulsive rather than pleasurable. They don't like the taste of the marshmallow; they just can't look at food without wanting to put it in their mouths.

So really, the issue for me is not procrastination per se. The results (quality of work and also mood, which is probably a bigger issue for me) differ depending on how I'm avoiding doing what I should be doing, which is one of the reasons "lifestyle experts" advise you to train yourself to do housework as a means of procrastination rather than, say, watching TV. If I'm procrastinating by writing, I'm not necessarily more productive than if I'm procrastinating by playing video games, but a) I have something to show for it at least and b) I don't get overwhelmed with guilt and stress to quite the same degree. Hey, at least I'm doing something.

How I can use this to help my kids is beyond me, particularly when they see even fun activities as "work," and thus less appealing than games/Facebook. But I can probably use it myself to be less of a fuck-up.

Thoughts?

Comments

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

I've been a major procrastinator at home lately, but definitely not at work. Which means the things I care about have been getting the shaft in favor of what I do for my paycheck. Can't really think deeply about this right now, however, as I'm too consumed with mulling over my own homegrown version of the marshmallow test (involving vegetables and a cookie, and about which I will post in a moment).

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

There's a lot to think about there.
Marshmallow, in particular, as a reward puts the whole concept into an interesting perspective for me since it's not at all compelling to me as a reward. What the hell do you want with two marshmallows if you don't like the one?

[pofflewomp.livejournal.com]

Or if they're not kosher or vegetarian marshmallows :(

[zingerella.livejournal.com]

I don't have anything coherent, but I'm going to throw up, for your consideration, the Fat Nutritionist's (she's awesome, btw) take on medical "non-compliance", because I think there's something there, but I'm not sure what:

most people who appear “non-compliant” are, in many cases, dealing with roadblocks or challenges that haven’t been appropriately addressed. And, to me, this comes down to one’s fundamental assumptions about human nature: are humans willfully disobedient, ignorant, stupid creatures who purposely create obstacles to their own well-being, and to frustrate those who try to help them?

In the case of Flash games, or Tetris, or Pong, or whatever, I think that in many cases they're the path of immediate least-resistance, and they're meeting a need for low-level, risk-free stimulation. Ditto TV. And sometimes, what we need so low-level stimulation with no risk of failure, with the theoretical option of walking away whenever we want (and not having to "finish").

Facebook is also a low-risk activity. Even fun schoolwork is not low-risk. I'm not sure if there's anything in that or not.

When I was a teen, I forced myself to do math homework by setting a timer. For 10 minutes out of every hour spent doing non-fun work, I was allowed to read my novel. I do that now, with work-work and LJ (my 15 minutes are nearly up, and I have to go stare at a ms again).

In terms of feeling like less of a fuck-up, I would also suggest that you consider setting specific and attainable goals for yourself. And record your successes. You tend to dwell on your perceived failures, and this feeds into your angst and depression, you know? But some of your goals are kind of nebulous, so you don't know when you've succeeded and can move the goalposts on yourself, or unattainable--the sorts of things you'd think someone else was a bit overly ambitious to try.

[rantipole6.livejournal.com]

"I think that in many cases they're the path of immediate least-resistance, and they're meeting a need for low-level, risk-free stimulation."

I think you've hit the nail on the head with that.

I LOVE remotely controlling my students computers. I used to avoid teaching lessons in the computer lab because they'd get almost NOTHING out of the interactive math activities I'd find for them. Now that I can block their access to music programs, monitor what's on their screen, and send messages that pop up and say "Get back to work, Marcos", I love online assignments. Being Big Brother is awesome.

[absinthetic.livejournal.com]

versus a child who studies first and then watches TV if he has time.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

Have you heard of the teacher with special needs first nations kids who has introduced exercise as a way of getting the kids more concentrated? I know this doesn't match the needs of your classroom, but it's definitely a different approach in getting kids to do their work. :P The CBC has reported on this, and I think the Globe has followed up as well. I won't look it up now (i.e. I can only procrastinate so much, eh) but ping me again if you can't find the articles.

I wish I could resolve this same problem for myself, anyway. (and I do need to exercise.)

These things are avoidance strategies. One thing I've done sometimes at work is to write down every task that I'm doing, including which time I'm starting it at. Every time I start delaying, I can see right on my list where I've wasted time. I haven't done it much, but when I was doing it, I found it effective. Speaking of which, I think I need to do that if I want to finish all that I need to do before 5pm. I find that evaluating how long a task will task, setting down a time deadline, and then forcing myself to be accountable to it helps somewhat. It's a real pain in the ass though.

[pofflewomp.livejournal.com]

I used to find that only pain would get me to work. I once passed a Polish language transaltion exam by swotting up from basic level to reading "Time" magazine in Polish just by holding weights out at arms length and forcing myself to bear the pain holding them still while I learned 20 words a minute vocabulary! Without the pain factor I would not have managed it at all!
Yoga is best though I think. Painless (relatively) and amazing for concentration and relaxation and self-discipline and all that. It would be great to have it in schools.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

I love your approach. I'll try that.

[lovableatheist.livejournal.com]

because the students who hand in their assignments late (and thus have theoretically more time to complete the assignment than the ones who did it on time) almost always hand in work that is less complete and of lower quality than the students who are able to stick to timelines.

I've noticed this in university as well. Some of my students who repeatedly hand their assignments in late often get lower grades. You'd think that they would use that extra time to make their assignments a bit stronger, but it just doesn't work out that way. Sometimes I figure that it's a case of first-year undergrads thinking that they can get by by putting the same amount of time and effort into their work as they did in high school. That rarely ever works though.

[cannibal-x.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting. I don't have any advice but it's quite interesting, I was talking about it with my roommates ;)

[sadie-sabot.livejournal.com]

god. I'll spend huge chunks of my work day doing stupid internet shit (well, it's not all stupid but, you know, facebook.) and at the end of the day I don't feel very good and I feel bad about my job performance. on the rare days that I really rock out at my job and stay focused most of the day, I feel significantly better physically, mentally, and emotionally at the end of the day. And yet, here I am, on the internet instead of faxing MRI results.

I think part of it is that my job bores me, but it does also feel a little bit compulsive. I wish I had better skills at staying focused.

[rbowspryte.livejournal.com]

In regards to the marshmallow test. I've been reading The Road less traveled by M. Scott Peck recently. Besides disagreeing with much he has to say the one thing he mentions that I do agree with is he correlates a high indicator or success in people with high self-discipline. The ability to delay quick gratification being a hallmark of such. He believes quite strongly that "Nothing possible without discipline" and repeats it ad nauseum to the reader with endless examples.

I wouldn't go that far as he would but it's a good point that is often very true I think.

[pofflewomp.livejournal.com]

Hmm, imteresting about the procrastination meaning worse academic success etc. I always assumed as a child that people who studied were those too thick to get As without studying, and that intelligent people just dashed something off five minutes before it was due, or a week or so later (depending on strictness of teacher), and got high marks!
I am a firm believer that hard work just leads to burn-out, stress, and is pretty pointless, unless it is for something worthwhile like saving someone's life, which, in every situation I have tried it in, has led to stress, burn-out and failure anyway!
But that was with old fashioned exam-based systems, where you did better by working less and having a good short term memory.
Not that I think academic success gets people anywhere anyway, except in horrible city banker circles, or in politics and law, I suppose.
Actually, having waffled about that, maybe a better interpretation would be which sort of person is more devious and calculating: I would probably hold out on the marshmallow because I would prefer to have two marshmallows; I also realized that I could get high marks with minimum work, so was not prepared to waste time studying when I could be reading books or playing computer games!
Dunno about procrastination. Had a philosophy tutorial once about the Ancient Greek's "akrasia," meaning sort of "weakness of will," about what Aristotle and Socrates said about why it is we take immediate gratification even when it can lead to dire consequences or lesser rewards. Can't remember what the conclusion was. Carpe Diem mentality maybe?

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

I am a firm believer that hard work just leads to burn-out, stress, and is pretty pointless

Hopefully, that's not your approach to raising children.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, but that counts under important things, like saving lives. I think raising children would count under that - nurturing lives! Erm, it does lead to burn-out and severe stress from what I've seen, but it isn't so pointless of course. I've not been lucky enough to have got there yet, but I'm already on burn-out and stress!

[pofflewomp.livejournal.com]

Actually, I used to read instead of doing homework, which fits into your marshmallow framing theory, and I used to always start doing loads of washing up whenever exam time came round! Now I just lie on the sofa watching tv, which aint so good, but then I have no goals in life, alas!

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

How I can use this to help my kids is beyond me, particularly when they see even fun activities as "work," and thus less appealing than games/Facebook. But I can probably use it myself to be less of a fuck-up.

Education and development strategies that come out of tests like these are the reasons (or one of them) why teachers and students can't have nice things. Namely, a sane approach to education instead of jumping on the newest simplistic fad in developmental studies that academia tends to pump out.

[porphyrios.livejournal.com]

I'm quite a procrastinator, except these days, I procrastinate by reading Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, or some books from this list of 100 or So Books that Shaped a Century of Science:

http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/100-or-so-books-that-shaped-a-century-of-science

Good reading list. (I read when I should be teaching myself mathematics.)

Your description of children being addicted to zoning out on the computer is eerie. I think what they are addicted to is disassociation, which computer games make a lot easier. When I was their age, I was very addicted to video games and computer games, and cared more about playing those than anything real in my life. The games stopped being pleasurable after a while, and I began to play mostly for the relief of being able to focus on a self-contained non-reality. Sometimes, I actually worry about what computer games are doing to a generation of otherwise smart kids. The activity generates no useful skills or experience points. (j/k)

Joking aside, I became more academic by telling myself that reading good books and doing math generated more experience points than watching TV or playing video games, as if my life were some kind of all-too-real RPG.