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The Challenge of Waiting, in Any Culture
Fifty years ago, Walter Mischel and colleagues wanted to measure how well young children could resist temptation. He invented the famous “marshmallow” test. Children could either eat one marshmallow right away or wait 15 minutes
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Culture Affects Kids’ Ability to Delay Gratification
Overcoming impulses to enjoy immediate rewards in order to get later benefits is fundamental to achieving goals. Researchers often measure the delaying of gratification with well-known “marshmallow task,” in which children must resist the urge
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U.S. Kids Are Falling Behind Global Competition, but Brain Science Shows How to Catch Up
On vital measures that predict later success in school and life, small children in the U.S. do worse than kids in comparable countries. This distressing information comes from an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study of
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Science Shows How to Protect Kids’ Mental Health, but It’s Being Ignored
Young people in the United States are experiencing a mental health crisis. Warnings from the surgeon general, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and other prominent organizations, as well as regular news reports, highlight
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Few Transgender Children Change Their Minds After 5 Years, Study Finds
Young children who transition to a new gender with social changes — taking on new names, pronouns, haircuts and clothing — are likely to continue identifying as that gender five years later, according to a report published
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The War Is Taking a Toll on Ukraine’s Kids. Psychologists Share How Parents Can Help
Hanna Usatenko’s 10-year-old daughter, Kate, is afraid the war in Ukraine is making her lose her memory. She’s heard the deafening sound of rocket attacks. She had to flee her home in Kyiv with her father and
