Why is the delay of gratification so important? It stops you from living hand-to-mouth so you can get things done. It prevents you from blowing the windfall of money, allows you to get physically fit, lets you be creative, and helps you succeed in college or a marriage. This was the fun Oreo version of the classic "Marshmallow Test." Below is a video of Luke eating the cookie. I know, exciting!
In terms of Mischell, Ebbesen, & Zeiss’s (1972) original study, “Cognitive and Attentional Mechanisms in Delay of Gratification” Luke did well on the two main experiments. First, he could distract himself from the cookies. Second, he did so by thinking of fun things such as killing zombies with an axe (huff). To be fair, our controls were more relaxed than the lighting. Our cat Fluffy was in the room so that was a built-in distraction. However, you can see he does not need her to take his mind off the Oreo. I also stopped well before 15 minutes so there is a chance Luke is doomed. On the up-side, at the age of 5 and a half he is younger than the children in the original study who were 7-9. It was in follow-up studies where the link between gratification delay was correlated with higher SAT scores and getting into a competitive college. Whatever, this was just fun.
[PS: I accidentally cut off the beginning of the video when I give Luke instructions]