[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 16, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       GOLDEN GOOSE AWARD WINNER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 16, 2015

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Golden 
Goose Award, which recognizes researchers whose seemingly obscure, 
federally funded research has returned significant benefits to society.
  In particular, I rise to celebrate 2015 Golden Goose Awardees Drs. 
Walter Mischel, Philip Peake, and Yuichi Shoda for their research using 
the now famous Marshmallow Test. Their work--funded by the National 
Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation--has had a 
significant impact on how we understand human behavior, how we educate 
our children, and even how we save for retirement.
  These researchers used a simple test to measure pre-schoolers' self-
control, offering children one marshmallow now or two if they could 
wait 15 minutes alone in a room with a single marshmallow. Their 
research showed that how children performed on this simple, silly-
sounding test correlated with the children's future SAT scores, their 
propensity for obesity or drug addiction, and even the very chemistry 
of their brains.
  Far from a story about fixed fates, their study showed the importance 
of self-control and provided an understanding of how it can be 
cultivated. Our increased understanding of self-control has transformed 
how we teach our children and helps us recognize the potential that 
lies in all of us. They have helped usher in a new age of understanding 
of human development and behavior. Our lives are the better for it. I 
am proud to stand in recognition of their work.
  I also believe it is important to highlight the government funding 
that made their research possible. Basic scientific research is often 
misunderstood because it may not appear to have an immediate pay off, 
but the research using Marshmallow Test highlights the profound impact 
it can have on our lives. We must continue to invest in basic and 
applied scientific research if we are going to tackle the problems of 
the 21st century.

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