CET-6 Listening Lecture: What the Marshmallow Test Really Tells Us

Recording Three.

錄音三。

Picture a four-year-old alone in a room with one marshmallow on a plate.

想像一個四歲的孩子獨自待在房間裡，盤子上放著一顆棉花糖。

An adult says: you can eat it now, or wait, and get two.

一個大人說：你可以現在吃，也可以等一下，就能拿到兩顆。

This was the marshmallow test, run by Walter Mischel at Stanford University.

這就是史丹佛大學Walter Mischel進行的棉花糖實驗。

Some children ate the treat at once. Others sang, or covered their eyes.

有些孩子馬上就吃了。有些則唱歌，或遮住眼睛。

Years later, the children who had waited longer tended to do better at school!

多年後，那些等得比較久的孩子在學校往往表現較好！

For a long time, the lesson seemed clear: self-control predicts success.

很長一段時間，結論似乎很清楚：自制力能預測成功。

But later research has made the story more complicated.

但後來的研究讓事情變得更複雜。

Later, researchers at the University of Rochester added one step before the test.

後來，羅徹斯特大學的研究人員在實驗前加了一個步驟。

An adult promised the children better art materials, and then either kept the promise or broke it.

一個大人答應給孩子們更好的畫畫材料，然後有時守約，有時食言。

Children who had met the reliable adult waited about four times longer!

遇到守信大人的孩子，等的時間大約是另一組的四倍！

So waiting isn't only about willpower.

所以，能不能等不只是意志力的問題。

It's also a sensible choice when you can trust that the reward will come.

當你相信獎勵一定會來，等待也是明智的選擇。

Then, in 2018, a much larger study repeated the test with a more varied group of children.

接著在2018年，一項規模大得多的研究以更多元的一群孩子重做了這個實驗。

The link with later success was much weaker.

和日後成功之間的關聯弱了很多。

Once family background was taken into account, it almost disappeared.

一旦把家庭背景考慮進去，這個關聯幾乎就消失了。

Questions twenty-two to twenty-five are based on the recording you have just heard.

第22題到第25題根據你剛才聽到的錄音。

Question twenty-two. What were the children asked to do in the marshmallow test?

第22題。在棉花糖實驗中，孩子們被要求做什麼？

Question twenty-three. What did the researchers in Rochester change?

第23題。羅徹斯特的研究人員改變了什麼？

Question twenty-four. What does the Rochester study suggest about waiting?

第24題。羅徹斯特的研究對等待有什麼啟示？

Question twenty-five. What did the 2018 study find?

第25題。2018年的研究發現了什麼？

Famous experiments are a good start, not the final word.

著名的實驗是好的起點，而不是最終結論。

And if someone offers you two marshmallows, make sure you trust them first!

如果有人說要給你兩顆棉花糖，先確定你信得過他！