Alexa, Test My Willpower

Psychologist Walter Mischel, head of the famous Stanford Marshmallow Study, offered preschool-aged children their choice of marshmallows or pretzel sticks. He then told them they could have the treat now, or if they could wait 15 minutes to snack they would be rewarded with more. Those who waited for a bigger reward were later reported by their parents to have better academic performance.

Since the landmark study, social scientists have experimented to learn how a person delays gratification. One study from Florida State University found that willpower was a limited resource.

When a person perceives pleasure say, a glimpse of a chocolate cake on a restaurant’s dessert menu, the ventral striatum experiences increased activity. The prefrontal cortex, which handles reasoning and rational thought, must override the drive and tell the server ‘just the chec...