The Development of Time Preferences in Children

The Marshmallow Experiment

Source: Unknown Author / CC BY-SA-NC

Every parent has observed the remarkable evolution in their children's capacity for patience. In early childhood, kids often struggle to wait for anything, consumed by the immediacy of the present moment. As they progress through elementary school, this impatience tends to diminish. However, the journey doesn't end there, as adolescence brings forth a new wave of impulsive behavior, intertwined with mood swings and risk-taking tendencies. This developmental trajectory is pivotal, as it equips us with the skills necessary for making intertemporal decisions.

Every day, we make decisions that involve choosing between immediate and delayed rewards. This process reflects our inherent tendencies toward impatience and impulsivity, attitudes known as time preference or time discounting. While these traits vary among individuals, they undergo significant development during childhood and adolescence, impacting decision-making processes and future outcomes. In this post, we will explore how time preferences evolve from infancy through adolescence, the factors influencing their development, and the underlying neurological mechanisms involved.

How do we evaluate time preferences?

Imagine being offered $10 today or $100 in three months. Some may opt for the immediate reward, while others might exercise patience for the larger payoff down the road. Such choices are subjective and vary from person to person. However, the plot thickens when we're presented with another scenario: $10 in one week versus $100 in three months and one week. If we chose $10 today over $100 in three months initially, logic dictates that we would also choose $10 in one week over $100 in three months and one week in the subsequent scenario. Indeed, we should anticipate that we will prefer the immediate $10 in one week. Yet, often, this isn't the case. This inconsistency in decision-making, known as time inconsistency, reveals a fascinating aspect of human behavior: our tendency to prioritize immediate rewards over long-term gains, leading to procrastination, impulsive spending, and inadequate planning for the future.

Measuring time preferences relies on asking people to choose between a small reward sooner and a larger reward later. By asking many times, we can estimate how people value delays and trade them off with rewards or losses, and we can also see whether they are significantly more impulsive when rewards are right in front of them.

A classical experiment to study time preferences in young children is the Marshmallow Test, which was designed by Walter Mischel in the late 1960s. The test consists of presenting a child with a choice between a marshmallow immediately or two marshmallows if they can wait for around 15 minutes while the experimenter leaves the room. Here again, some children eat the treat right away, while others wait patiently. Many find strategies to not succumb such as fidgeting or not looking at the treat. Others take small bites they expect to not be noticeable.

What did we learn from these experiments?

Time preferences are shaped early in life, with infants as young as 1 month showing rudimentary abilities to encode lengths of time. However, it's during early childhood (ages 3 to 8) that significant development occurs. Studies have shown that patience increases with age during childhood. For example, while 3-year-olds may struggle to understand the connection between present and future desires, 4-year-olds demonstrate more awareness. Similarly, interventions like patience training have been shown to improve children's ability to make patient choices. During late childhood (ages 8 to 12), children still tend to prioritize instant gratification, but interventions targeting future self-imagination have shown promise in fostering patience. Adolescence (ages 13 to 18) marks a critical period for time preference development. While adolescents often undervalue delayed outcomes, a phenomenon called hyperbolic discounting, studies suggest that financial education and interventions can mitigate this tendency. However, adolescence is also characterized by increased sensitivity to rewards and risk-taking behavior, attributed to ongoing brain development and hormonal changes.

Experiments have also shown that various factors correlate with time preferences during childhood and adolescence. Gender differences have been observed, with boys typically displaying more impatience than girls. Socio-economic status (SES) also plays a significant role, with children from high-SES families demonstrating greater patience and less risk-seeking behavior. Cognitive abilities, parental style, and inheritable traits further influence time preferences, affecting long-term outcomes such as health and economic success.

The development of time preferences is closely linked to neurological changes in the brain. Brain regions involved in cognitive control, such as the prefrontal cortex, gradually mature throughout childhood and adolescence. This development influences the ability to resist immediate rewards in favor of long-term goals. Additionally, changes in the reward system contribute to variations in time preferences across different age groups. Time-discounting behavior is also intricately connected to how individuals perceive time intervals. Studies have shown that children's subjective perception of time differs from that of adults, with age-related improvements in time judgments. Factors such as inhibition, impulsivity, memory capacity, and emotional states influence time perception, highlighting the complexity of this process.

Throughout infancy to adolescence, time preferences evolve significantly, shaped by a complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and neurological influences. Concerns often arise among parents regarding their children's impulsive tendencies. It's crucial to recognize that children's decision-making relies on their still-developing cognitive abilities. The maturation of children's processing capabilities extends into late adolescence and varies among individuals. While some 4-year-old children exhibit patience, such as waiting for the experimenter to return for the second marshmallow, some adults may struggle with impulse control.

Child Development Essential Reads

Why Everyone Calls Their Mothers "Mama"

Conventional Language Motivates Imitation, to an Extent

Modeling and teaching patience

Source: Monstera Production/Pexels

How can we help children?

Demonstrating patience through modeling and fostering activities that necessitate waiting for a reward, such as saving allowance for a coveted toy or patiently awaiting a turn in a game, play pivotal roles in cultivating patience in children. These experiences instill an understanding of the value of patience and delayed gratification. While instant gratification may be readily available in many aspects of life, it's crucial to emphasize that waiting is a natural and often more fulfilling part of the human experience. Recognizing and praising children for their displays of patience, coupled with offering rewards, serve to reinforce this behavior positively and encourage its recurrence. Equipping children and adolescents with coping mechanisms to manage temptations and the accompanying frustration is equally vital. Techniques such as controlled breathing and finding distractions provide effective tools for navigating impulses. Lastly, it's essential to exhibit patience and offer encouragement as children embark on their journey toward greater patience, understanding that it is a skill that develops over time with practice and support.