In the modified marshmallow test the goal was investigate if chicks would prefer a small immediate reward or a large but delayed reward.

Before testing, the birds needed to go through a series of learning steps. The first step was to teach the birds that if they peck at the lid of a trough the lid will slid open and there will be a reward in the trough (figure a). Once they had learned this they were trained on differentiating an instant and a delayed reward. The blue circle indicates an immediate reward and the green square indicates a delayed reward (figure b). Once they had shown preference for an instant reward, they were moved on to learn the difference between a small and a large reward. The white trough indicates a small reward and the black trough indicates a large reward (figure c). Once the birds had shown a preference for a large reward they were moved on to testing. In the test they were allowed a choice between a small, instant reward or a large, delayed reward (figure d).