One of the best ways scientists have found to study impulsivity is with an experiment called the marshmallow test. In the marshmallow test, a kid is brought into a room with a single marshmallow on a plate. The kid sits down in front of the marshmallow and is told "If this marshmallow is still here in 20 minutes, I'll give you two marshmallows. But if you eat this one marshmallow now, you won't get the second marshmallow." Then, the scientist leaves the room, leaving the kid alone with the marshmallow. Most children spend their time desperately trying to not eat the marshmallow, looking away, closing their eyes, smelling it but not tasting it, trying not to touch it or think about it. Just as with the impulsivity examples discussed at the start of this article, there are two selves in these children—one self wants to eat the marshmallow now, and the other wants to wait to get two marshmallows. Precommitment is like locking the marshmallow in a box before entering the room.
Precommitment is the best defense against impulsivity. The more we understand about precommitment, the more we can find effective new ways to help people make better decisions.

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Go to source: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00026