Cookie Monster Learns about Not Eating the Marshmallow... I mean the Cookie!

Sir Ian MacKellen and Cookie Monster recently explored the concept of delayed gratification on Sesame Street. But it's not the first time Cookie Monster has taken part in his own version of the Marshmallow Experiment. He's been talking delayed gratification for quite a few years. And in these latest spots, too, Walter Mischel, the original architect of the experiment, consulted with the venerable children's show. Intended to highlight the skills that educators and psychologists now call "executive function," Cookie Monster and friends scrutinize the charm of the chocolate chip cookie and attempt to demonstrate the value of the qualities that underly good decision-making and social relationships -- things like self-control, patience, grit and flexible thinking. You can see the entire spot here. But remember what Mischel says is the most important lesson of the Marshmallow Experiment -- a lesson, by the way, Cookie Monster perfectly exemplifies: "Learning when you want to eat the marshmallow is just as important as developing the skills that allow you to resist the marshmallow. A life lived with too much delay of gratification can be as sad as one without enough of it."