Noor and Ahmad, four-year-old twins, are shopping with their mother. She offers to buy them each a small cookie now or a large toy later if they are good during the shopping trip. Noor takes the cookie, but Ahmad waits for the toy. Based on this, who will be more successful in high school?

When we achieve a goal or a desire is fulfilled, there is a somewhat sweet and emotional reaction of joy or satisfaction we feel. This reaction is what is referred to as gratification.

The satisfaction that is obtainable when a goal or desire is instantly fulfilled without entertaining any form of delay whatsoever is known as immediate gratification. This literally means the act or condition of choosing today over tomorrow.

On the other hand, the ability to delay the enjoyment or pleasure gotten from the satisfaction or fulfillment of our desires is what is known as delayed gratification. This ability is considered priceless and is seen as capable of yielding rewards later in life by experts.

Some years ago, Walter Mischel conducted an experiment known generally as "marshmallow experiment" to evaluate gratification patterns in four years old children, offering them marshmallow. He later discovered through a follow-up experiment that this rare but important ability to delay the instant or immediate consumption of the marshmallow (delay gratification) was a decent way to tell if someone could later become successful in life. The outcome of other similar studies also confirmed that individuals who naturally have the skill to delay gratification perform better in terms of cognitive tasks.

So, with regards to Noor and Ahmad, if the outcome of the marshmallow and follow-up experiments conducted by Walter Mischel and other researchers is anything to go by, then we predict that Ahmad will become more successful in high school because of his ability to defer gratification of his desires