CC Image: “Inspirational” by WinMeNot on Flickr.com
- *Delayed gratification*
- The average kid could last 7-8 minutes
- Kids who could wait longer did better in school
- Kids who couldn’t wait did worse in school
- Whether you could wait longer or shorter changed your success or failure chances
- It is still in question whether or not the ability to wait and discipline yourself is hard wired or can be influenced.
- It was also noticed that kids who could wait when they were little got better jobs, were happier, more successful, and healthier.
CC Image: “Success” by Kevin T. Houle on Flickr.com
- This American Life podcast Back to School
- Parents and people were constantly worried about getting their children to have the highest processing ability as fast as possible.
- The average G.E.D. prep time is 32 hours, while the average high school student spends around 1000 hours a year
- Wanted to study whether or not G.E.D. students go on to do as well as people who went through all of high school.
- Consistently G.E.D.s are performing slightly better than people who dropped out of high school and didn’t pursue G.E.D. however did not perform nearly as well people who graduated high school.
- People who had dropped out of high school are far more prone to dropping out of other aspects of life, such as relationships, jobs, and connections.
- Tests do not measure everything, G.E.D. students were less successful but judging by the test had the same testing skills.
- What is the “dark matter” that lies between cognitive function and success.
- Two people with the same cognitive function can have two completely different skills and paths in life.
- Uses the term character to define these ghost skills. However, not in a moral aspect.
- Schools abandoned teaching character, because they are not cognitive skills, and we cannot measure it with tests and analyze them.
- Lots of the non-cognitive skills have to do with self control.
- Parents administer the Marshmallow test on their own kids to test results.
- Some kids could delay gratification, with lots of crying and tantrum, but would make the threshold for getting the reward.
- Stress is what makes people in poverty(with more stress) less likely to bridge the success gap.
- Stress prevents people from developing certain non-cognitive skills.
- Cortisol is the longterm stress hormone.
- 2/3 of kids have a secure attachment, kids with secure attachments are far more competent in all areas of socialization, confidence, lack of inhibitions, etc.
