What Does the Marshmallow Test Actually Test?

A test conducted in the 1960’s by Walter Mischel, then a professor at Stanford, put nursery-school students to the test. The kids were put in a room alone and told they could choose a treat, but if they waited for the experimenter to return, they could get two treats. Today, Mischel’s test, known as the marshmallow test, is one of the best known studies in psychology. Mischel tracked the kids over time, and found that the kids who held out and waited for the experimenter were basically better at life than the ones who didn’t. A new study by Celeste Kidd suggests that Mischel’s test had some flaws. Trust was missing from his experiment, so Kidd created her own version of the marshmallow study. In the first part of the study, the researchers gave kids a piece of paper and crayons and told them to use the crayons, or wait for a better set. The kids were also given small stickers and told that they could use them or wait for larger stickers. For half of the kids, the experimenter returned with what he promised, but for the other half, he returned with nothing. The marshmallow test was then given to the kids, and nine out of the 14 kids who received the promised better things waited for another marshmallow, while only one of the 14 in the other group waited for another marshmallow. The results suggest that to get kids to be better at waiting is better done by persuading them that there is something worth waiting for.

Does Using Paper Take CO2 out of the Environment?

We all know paper comes from trees. But what not many people realize that paper stores carbon just likes trees. While this sounds like an amazing discovery and that we should all start using a lot of paper to help the environment, there is a catch. Paper degrades too quickly. When it breaks down in landfills, it releases methane, and which is actually a much more potent greenhouse gas. But there is something else that we all use that stores carbon much more effectively. The wood we use in our homes and buildings. A two-by-four can store carbon for two to three years, and to help that, buildings last a lot longer than paper, and do not degrade, so there is no methane or carbon released from the wood in our homes and buildings. While it may seem a bit silly to cut down more trees for wood to build our homes, more homes built out of wood would store carbon and help the environment, and trees can always be replanted.

Is PTSD Contagious?

Many people think PTSD only affects the person who has it, but that is not the case. The crippling disorder that many war veterans suffer from has been noticed to rub off on people in the immediate family of those who have it. The Vine family is suffering from this horrible experience. Caleb Vine is an Iraq war veteran who suffers from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury. He has been home for several years now, but he hasn’t been the same since he left for Iraq. He has nightmares, flashbacks, and random outbreaks caused by “triggers.” His wife and daughter seem to have developed some of his symptoms. Brannan, Caleb’s wife, suffers from hyper vigilance, and sometimes cannot do laundry because she can’t figure out how to work the machine. Their six-year-old daughter, Katie, gets mad easily, and is beginning to overact and yell. PTSD plagues the Vine’s household, leaving it eerily quiet and dark. The Vine’s aren’t the only family suffering. Brannan has begun to reach out to other families with PTSD victims, which there are many of. Many soldiers’ wives can relate to Brannan. They too find themselves on full alert all the time, even when it isn’t necessary. PTSD is putting families on edge and tearing others apart. Brannan has taken the job of trying to help other families that also suffer because, unfortunately, no-one pays much mind to those suffering from second-hand PTSD, something that should be changed.