Delay of gratification in young adults with Down syndrome

Thirty-one young adults (17-23 years of age) with Down syndrome participated in two self-imposed delay of gratification trials. Thirty-six and forty-eight percent waited for the experimenter to return (15 minutes) on Trials 1 and 2 respectively, and thirty-six percent waited for the experimenter on both occasions. Expressive language differentiated those who waited from those who did not. A discriminant analysis which included measures of expressive language, temperament characteristics and parental attitudes to childrearing gave very good separation of the two groups. Directions for future researched are discussed.