4B: Q & potential A???

After completing this week’s reading assignments several different thoughts came to my mind. A question that I developed in response to these readings is “what was different about the children that regardless of the fact that they failed the marshmallow test, they still ended up being successful?”

It turns out I am not the only one interested in knowing the answer to this question. In “DON’T-The secret of self-control ’’ by Jonah Lehrer it states “Mischel is particularly excited by the example of the substantial subset of people who failed the marshmallow task as four-year-olds but ended up becoming high-delaying adults.”. To me this demonstrates that the marshmallow test is not a definitive way of determining someone’s future success.

These kids beat the odds that were against them and managed to have an outcome like the children that had been delayed gratifiers all along. There are different things you can attribute this phenomenon to but it all depends on perspective.

If you were to examine this situation from Joachim De Posada’s perspective you would most likely argue that the reason why this set of children became successful is because they at some point developed delayed gratification. You would probably base their success on solely that concept that they had strong self-control and not consider that maybe it is possible to succeed because of other useful methods and qualities.

On the other hand, if you viewed this case from Carol Dweck’s perspective you would probably attribute these children’s success in life to their mindset. You would almost certainly propose that the reason why they still ended up successful is because they had growth mindsets and that their passion for learning and excepting challenges made them progress.

Aside from these other perspectives I believe that there isn’t just one magical quality or factor that leads to success. I think that all these people make a good point but that their ideas need to mesh together along with the other concepts that come in to play when it pertains to this controversial issue known as success. It’s not easy to accomplish but nothing is impossible once we set our minds to it which is where motivation and determination come in the picture and from there the possibilities are endless.