The ability of delay gratification in early childhood is a key component of self-regulation and has influence on children's future development. The present study consists 2 experiments. In experiment 1, 63 kindergarteners, aged 73 months averagely, were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Children in the experimental group were orally labeled by the researcher as ”I heard that you can restrain yourself very well” in a one-on-one interaction, whereas the controls received no labeling. Participants were asked to perform a ball-moving task which was repetitive and was designed to bore the children. The researcher told the participants that how many gifts they will be rewarded depending on the time (in minute) they carried on the task. Two gifts would be given if they could concentrate on the task for more than 15 minutes, otherwise only 1 gift would be given. Dependent measure, namely the time spent on the task of each child, was collected. The results showed that the 'labeled chi1dren' were found to invest significantly longer time than that of their counterparts during the ball-moving task (M= 13.32 vs. M= 11.26, p < .05). In experiments 2, which was conducted one-week after the experiment 1, the same children participated in. The researcher asked the children a misleading question, which was designed to induce children's false recall. Children were then categorized as 2 groups, namely mislead and non-mislead groups, depending on their responses. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups on the time they spent on the task collected a week ago. We discussed the factors that may affect young children's delay gratification as well as the implication of the study.
The ability of delay gratification in early childhood is a key component of self-regulation and has influence on children's future development. The present study consists 2 experiments. In experiment 1, 63 kindergarteners, aged 73 months averagely, were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Children in the experimental group were orally labeled by the researcher as ”I heard that you can restrain yourself very well” in a one-on-one interaction, whereas the controls received no labeling. Participants were asked to perform a ball-moving task which was repetitive and was designed to bore the children. The researcher told the participants that how many gifts they will be rewarded depending on the time (in minute) they carried on the task. Two gifts would be given if they could concentrate on the task for more than 15 minutes, otherwise only 1 gift would be given. Dependent measure, namely the time spent on the task of each child, was collected. The results showed that the 'labeled chi1dren' were found to invest significantly longer time than that of their counterparts during the ball-moving task (M= 13.32 vs. M= 11.26, p < .05). In experiments 2, which was conducted one-week after the experiment 1, the same children participated in. The researcher asked the children a misleading question, which was designed to induce children's false recall. Children were then categorized as 2 groups, namely mislead and non-mislead groups, depending on their responses. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups on the time they spent on the task collected a week ago. We discussed the factors that may affect young children's delay gratification as well as the implication of the study.