Note: The format for AA3 is a little different from the typical article analysis. Answer the questions below in 1-2 sentences.
Watch the following video of the marshmallow task: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo4WF3cSd9Q
Read the highlighted sections of the Mischel et al. (1989) review paper. This paper combines the findings from a number of studies that Mischel et al. conducted using the marshmallow test. Please answer the questions below based on the sections we have highlighted in yellow (of course you can read the whole paper if you’re interested!).
Methods
1) Based on the video and paper, provide a general description of the methodology (i.e., describe what happens in the marshmallow task).
2) In Mischel et al. (1989), where do they say that their sample was recruited from?
Results
3) List 2 of the things that Mischel et al. found that “waiting” for the marshmallow (or other treat) predicted 10 (or more) years later?
Discussion
Other studies have suggested that there are limitations to the generalizability of these findings. The predictive power of the marshmallow test seems to depend on the sample of children who are tested. Whether children wait for the marshmallow might also depend on how the test is conducted (i.e., whether the experimenter is perceived as trustworthy). Find one peer-reviewed journal article that demonstrates that there are limitations to the generalizability of these findings. You can use Google Scholar or the PsychInfo database to find your article. There are a number of newspaper or popular press articles on this topic, you can use these to help you find a research paper, but make sure you cite and read the peer-reviewed research paper and not the popular press article that was written based on it.
4) Provide the APA style citation for the article.
5) Answer the following questions based on the paper you found.
Question
What was the research question being asked by this study?
Methods
What were the methods?
Results
What were the important results?
6) Now we’re going to have you work backward to write a limitation for Walter Mischel’s studies based on the article you found in Question 5. In a few sentences provide a clear justification for why generalizability is a limitation in Mischel’s work. Typically when we write a generalizability limitation we “speculate” how the results might be different in a different sample or task – here you have direct evidence that it IS different (from the paper you found).
Make sure to use the results of the article you read as evidence when justifying your limitation. It should be VERY clear how your limitation comes from the article that you found. Your limitation should include either a concrete example of a population in which we do not find the same relationships between waiting for the marshmallow and long-term outcomes OR an example of a situation in which waiting for the marshmallow might depend on characteristics of the test itself.
