Not a sweet solution pill, but still can be swallowed.

If you could sum up The Marshmallow Test in three words, what would they be?

Academic, through, long.

What other book might you compare The Marshmallow Test to and why?

I first started with "The Willpower Instinct" by Kelly McGonigal and wanted to learn more about the academic research behind it. The Marshmallow Test is a longer, more detailed version of it and to me it sounded more academic. I found the subject fascinating.

Would you be willing to try another one of Alan Alda’s performances?

Not the ones on non-fiction.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Small town boy holds on to his marshmallows, uses them to bribe the class bully and gets rich and famous later in life.

Any additional comments?

I am a fan of Alan Alda, however, I felt like this audio performance has been rushed a little. Most of the time, it gave me the impression that he got the gig and started reading it, without properly emphasizing the sentences. Yes, it was a long book and a lot to read, oh well, nobody can be perfect all the time.

41 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great performance, but lacking in content

Any additional comments?

I did enjoy the listen, but it was over before it really told me any more than what was in Joachim de Posada's TED talk on the marshmallow experiments.
So, lovely and enjoyable, but does not really add anything to a 9 min TED talk.
Alan Alda narrates beautifully.

77 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Self-control is a skill we CAN develop!

It is a bit ironic and telling that while reading The Marshmallow Test I wanted Dr. Mischel to just give me the tips and tricks that would enable me to gain more self-control. Even if I lack patience now and probably would have been one of the children that wanted one marshmallow right now, he has written a book that gives me hope along with plenty of scientific explanation that self-control is a skill that I can develop, nurture and practice. I think he does an excellent job of explaining what self-control is, where it is warranted, instances where it may be more appropriate not to delay gratification, and what we might gain in our lives if we are able to better hone our willpower. As every science and statistics student has learned, correlation does not imply causation, and Dr. Mischel gives a well-reasoned explanation of what the ability to delay gratification may be correlated with. The reader is left with a clear understanding that waiting to get two marshmallows later instead of gobbling one immediately does not cause an easy and worry-free life! As other reviewers have stated, this is not a self-help book with a series of steps to be followed, but it is thoughtful and thought-provoking writing from the man who has spent his life researching self-control and provided us with the tools he has discovered.

44 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great insights into our minds and motivations

The first half of the book would have done well with further editing. The second half of the book was far more interesting and engaging. Alan Alda is a wonderful narrator and that helped with getting through some of the more technical and repetitive aspects of the book.

It was worth it to stay closely focused to the very end. This research is critically important to the future of our educational system, providing preschoolers with a better skill set for success and helping adults understand that change for themselves is still possible.

I would highly recommend this.

10 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great Info But Redundant

Great performance by Alan Alda. The research and antidotes are wonderful. Only criticism is it often felt redundant and that a good 25% of the book was continuously repeated and could have easily been edited down. Otherwise, very eye-opening and a motivating listen.

19 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

What will you do with this knowledge?

My motivation for listening to this book changed as I listened to it. I first started reading it because I heard how predictive the marshmallow test is for future happiness and success. However by the end of it I realized that the best reason for choosing this book is because our ability to delay gratification and practice self-awareness can be learned and developed.

7 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

In a very meta way this is hard to listen to

Listening to this book seemed painfully like finishing my broccoli. Lots of abbreviations like EF that you have to remember. That's great when you can flip back a page. Not so good on audio.

22 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Well written, easy to read and effective

Walter Mischel is one of the popes from the recent psychology. He designed the well known Mashmallow Test that proved that kids who waited for the researcher to come back and earned the second treat (instead of ringing the bell early to get only one marshmallow) did better in life than their peers. He found out that this was because of self control and executive function, and that it could be learned and enhanced. Ok, that is common knowledge, and I thought that the book was only about that test, but Walter Mischel goes way beyond that, creating links between the research and the current knowledge to write a great book.
Go ahead! Listen to it. You will enjoy it.

22 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great book

This was a fun book to listen to. I probably would have gotten more out of it had I read it, but it was nonetheless fascists sting research on how self control is developed, and the benefits of delayed gratification. The author also pointed out that too much delayed gratification is just as bad as too little delayed gratification. This book reminded me of the Power of Habit in the sense that it was all about reframing how you viewed the world and changing the way you think. As a new dad, it was interesting for me to learn that helping your kids to distract themselves and learn how to wait is extremely valuable and can help them learn self control and develop executive function. I would certainly recommend this book.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

kind of wordy and drawn out

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I respect Alan Alda as an actor but I was distracted by his voice in this reading. Due to his celebrity I found it hard to disconnect from Alan's voice and stay connected only with the actual authors content. I much prefer books read By The Author.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I have so many other books I want to read that this one just couldn't hold my attention. It felt like they were stretching out what should be a Life Magazine article into a book, so as to sell it. Feel overly clinical and I don't mean hard to understand but I mean excessive in repetitive details that didn't support my intake of the main ideas.

What three words best describe Alan Alda’s voice?

celebrity, familiar, distracting

Was The Marshmallow Test worth the listening time?

no, I felt it was drawn out, overly wordy, not to the point.

Any additional comments?

there maybe some real Gold in this book but the presentation made it too hard to wait for or find. Alan's voice is very clear, strong, measured easy to understand, mostly authoritative, but still too familiar, I couldn't stop thinking M*A*S*H during the reading. Sorry.

22 personnes ont trouvé cela utile