marshmallows

Dr. Mischel became famous for the marshallow experiments, a series of self control tests he carried out on a group of four-year-olds in the 1960s. Four-year-olds, of course, are not noted for their self control. In fact, you could say that at holiday time, our inner four-year-olds come out to play.

Dr. Mischel led a succession of children into a room with a bell and a marshmallow.

If they rang the bell, he would come in with a marshmallow.

If they didn't ring the bell, and waited for him to come back on his own, they could have two marshmallows.

In videos of the experiment, you can see the children squirming, kicking, hiding their eyes - desperately trying to exercise self-control so they can get two marshmallows.

Some broke down and rang the bell within a minute. Others lasted 15 minutes.

When Dr Mischel followed the children who had more self-control into their 30s, he found they did better than those who couldn't delay gratification. They scored higher on college entrance exams, they attended better colleges and they were less likely to use drugs.

But that's not the most interesting part. What Dr. Mischel did in the marshmallow experiemnet was overturn the orthodox view of willpower.

Most of us look at these kids, or at people in our lives, and ascribe their success to personality In his experiment, Dr. Mischel showed that behaviour predicted not by some global personality trait, but by people`s perceptions of themselves in a particular situation.

He found that those who are able to resist temptation are not stronger, but are able to focus on three strategies: avoidance, distraction and reframing.

Avoidance is when you make a deal with yourself to leave the coffee room rightr after pouring a cup because you are aware of your vulnerability to visible and accessible food items.

Distraction is engaging in a walk or favourite hobby instead of a post-dinner gorge.

Reframing of inevitable set backs is key to weight maintenance. Ì blew it by eating that doughnot; I might as well eat what I like for the rest of the day: becomes, `Well, I ate the doughnut this morning, but I can still eat healthily at lunch and dinner.`