Since there's nothing inherently appealing about marshmallows to children, an assortment of interesting looking treats could have been presented, and the children should have ranked them in terms of how much they wanted to try each. Then they could perform the test with each and the outcomes could be compared by the weighted values.
They did the marshmallow test with me as a child, and I thought it was dumb because I didn't like marshmallows; of course I wasn't eager to eat one. When we got the reward, I gave mine away to a kid who ate theirs initially. Had it been a puzzle they asked us not to touch, it might have gone differently.
It's a very subjective test and can easily underestimate the children's preferences.
They did the marshmallow test with me as a child, and I thought it was dumb because I didn't like marshmallows; of course I wasn't eager to eat one. When we got the reward, I gave mine away to a kid who ate theirs initially. Had it been a puzzle they asked us not to touch, it might have gone differently.
It's a very subjective test and can easily underestimate the children's preferences.