Walter Mischel differentiated himself from other social cognitive psychologists by redefining the traditional belief of personality theory. Mischel's work then provided a new insight, the idea that behavior arises from “relatively stable dispositions and cognitive-affective processes interacting with a particular situation” (Feist & Feist, 2001, p. 535). This essentially means that behavior is influenced by the situation. However, his work didn't stop there: Mischel is also known for his marshmallow test, which measures the ability to delay gratification in preschoolers. Researchers continue to use many of Mischel's works to study personality and will. Perhaps the fact that he thinks outside the box and doesn't entirely agree with the theorist before him is what makes him unique in his field.BiographyWalter Mischel was born in Vienna, Austria, on February 22, 1930. Walter and his older brother, Theodore's parents were upper-middle class and happened to live relatively close to Freud. However, due to the Nazi invasion in 1938, Mischel and his family fled Austria and moved to the United States. They settled in Brooklyn, New York, where Mischel eventually attended college. At first, painting, sculpture, psychology, and life in Greenwich Village occupied most of his time. Then the humanist perspective began to intrigue him and he read about existential thinkers and great poets. It was this interest that later led him to earn a master's degree in clinical psychology from the City College of New York. Shortly after his master's degree, he received his doctorate from The Ohio State University at the age of 26. It was during this time that he was influenced by both Julian Rotter and George Kelly. Lat...... middle of paper ...... constantly set more goals than we actually have a say in the direction of our lives. However, free choice is not unlimited: our past experiences and restrictions on our personal abilities partly determine our behavior. It is therefore difficult to characterize Mischel as an optimist or a pessimist when it comes to his view of humanity. The point is that Mischel is realistic and practical, believing that people are capable of solving problems and learning new behaviors. Mischel believes that people are unique with their individual behavioral signature behaviors. In conclusion, “cognitive social learning theory views people as forward-looking, purposeful, unified, cognitive, affective, and social animals, capable of evaluating present experiences and anticipating future events based on the goals they 'they chose themselves' (Feist, p.. 551)