Marshmallow Experiment Video Discussion Response

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nmrenfebfr

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Humanities

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I'm working on a psychology question and need guidance to help me learn.

Please watch The Marshmallow Experiment video and describe the behavior of the children using one of the three theories discussed on pages 145-148 and why you believe that theory best describes the moral reasoning of the child or children in the video.

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Discussion responses instructions: Please respond to 2 of your peers as to why you agree or think differently from their response. At least 2 paragraphs. Single-spaced. Citations if necessary. Student 1: Caitlin First, I would like to say how unfortunately I relate to these toddlers. As a 23-year old, I struggle with impulsiveness and instant gratification, when I want something I want it right there and then. I think my generation as a whole struggles with this a lot and that's why services like Amazon are my worst enemy because they provide the 1-day shipping that will satisfy my impulsiveness. Moving onto what theory I think is displayed in the video, I believe it is the cognitive development approach. In the cognitive development approach, moral judgments change the longer these toddlers have a chance to evaluate the aspects of their dilemma. In the beginning, all of the children (besides one) took many moments to think about the marshmallow and what would happen if they ate it. I believe specifically the children went through the preconventional level of moral reasoning because they based their decision on whether their behavior would be rewarded or punished and what would benefit them. Some of them reasoned that it would benefit them more by eating the marshmallow then and there and some knew it would be better to wait. I thought it was really interesting when the one little girl seemed to regret eating the marshmallow and tried to convince herself that she was waiting after eating it. I think it would be interesting to continue the experiment with other objects that are non-edible to see if the children have the same reaction. For example, if a child was given their favorite toy and they had to wait to open it two get another one, would they choose to wait or be too excited? I would like to see if this research is expandable and if they would reach the same conclusions. Student 2: Donna I have watched The Marshmallow Experiment video before and I found it just as interesting to watch it this time. You can tell how badly the children wanted to eat the marshmallow right away. In fact, the little girl dressed like Minnie Mouse didn't even seem to wait for the door to shut before she ate her marshmallow. One little boy started poking his marshmallow and quickly looked at the door. He repeated this several times, but refrained from eating his marshmallow. He looked so proud of himself when he earned the second marshmallow. The little boy dressed in the Dalmatian costume was avoiding even looking at the marshmallow and found a way to distract himself while he waited, by knocking on the table. The most interesting children to watch were the boy and girl sitting together, I assumed they were brother and sister. Even though they both decided immediately that they wanted to wait to get the second marshmallow, the little sister just couldn't resist. At first she just took a little nibble but eventually ate the entire marshmallow, even when her older brother reminded her that she would not get the second marshmallow. He was clearly older and demonstrated a higher level of self control. I believe the children's behavior demonstrates Kohlberg's Preconventional level of moral development. In this preconventional level, children's moral reasoning is first based on whether their behavior is rewarded or punished, stage 1, then to what will benefit the self or loved others, stage 2 (Hutchison, 2015). Whether the children ate the marshmallow right away or waited to earn a second treat, the children demonstrated Kohlberg's Preconventional Level, Stage 2 because they were able to make the choice that would benefit themselves. References Hutchison, Elizabeth D. (2015) Dimensions of Human Behavior: The Changing Life Course (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
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Tags: human behavior human development cognitive development approach

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Cognitive Reactions among Children

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Cognitive Reactions among Children
Growing evidence shows that different methods have different effect on children’s moral
reasoning and conduct. Helpful activities are essential to children since it helps them control
their behaviors and understand the effects of their behaviors on others. Parents need to
understand their children’s temperament before taking any disciplinary action. It’s because of
some children’s sensitive nature to certain messages than others. The Marshmallow Experiment
video presents children placed in conditional situations where they must abide by their
caregiver’s instructions to gain rewards (FloodSanDiego, 2010). Some children follow their
caregiver’s advice, while others fall to the temptation of eating the marshmallow.
The cognitive-developmental approach best describes the events in the video since the
theory expla...