Air date: December 11, 2011

Host: Steve Bogdewic, PhD

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Interview: B.J. Casey, PhD, professor of psychobiology
Director, Sackler Institute
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

We begin today with a follow-up to a very famous psychological study. You’ve probably heard about it:

Preschool children sit at a table and in the middle of the table are some marshmallows. The test was to see which children gave in to the temptation to grab a marshmallow and which children were able to resist the urge, were able to delay gratification.

Our first guest today tracked down some of those same children forty years later. She wanted to see if they still displayed the same personality traits as they did back in preschool.

Dr. B.J. Casey is a professor of psychobiology and director of the Sackler Institute at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. She spoke with Sound Medicine’s Steve Bogdewic.

Additional Resources:

• The Weill Medical College release highlights Dr. Casey's findings of a biological basis for delayed gratification.
• Watch kids try to delay gratification in Dr. Casey's marshmallow study.
• TIME magazine covers Dr. Casey's updated "marshmallow test" research.