14- Casey et al: BIOLOGICAL Flashcards

1
Q

Aims

A

Aimed to see if the ability to delay or not was a consistent personality trait.

Follow on study to see if ability to delay gratification in childhood predicts impulse control later in life

Ability could be linked to differences in way brain behaved when resisting temptation

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2
Q

Background

A

The marshmallow test.

-> 1970s Walter Mischel investigated the ability to defer gratification.

-> Involved almost 600 children aged between 4 and 6 yrs old.

-> A child would be seated at a table in a room with a researcher.

-< The researcher offered the child one marshmallow but could have 2 if the child waited for 15 minutes.

-> The researcher then left the room and returned after the allotted time.

-> By the time 15 minutes were up 2/3 of the children had succumbed and eaten them.

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3
Q

Results of background research

A

Some children were:

-> High delayers:
Meaning they could wait and received the reward of 2 marshmallows.

-> Low delayers:
Who could not wait and took the immediate reward by eating the marshmallow.

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4
Q

Definition of “hot” cues

A

Elicit an instant, emotional response.

Rewarding hot cues are linked with our desires and positive emotions.

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5
Q

Definitions of “cool” cues

A

Takes the emotion away from a stimulus. Not emotionally rewarding -> neutral.

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6
Q

What did Metcalfe and Mischel (1999) suggest?

A

There is a “cool” system in our brain locate in the pre-frontal cortex.

-> Area is called the INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS
* This area is associated with deciding whether to resist or not (MORE active in high delayers).

-> The “hot” system which is related to emotion and desires is in different areas.
* One part of this is called the VENTRAL STRIATUM
* This is related with emotion, desires and rewards. This would be MORE active in LOW delayers.

Summary:

-> Cool = prefrontal cortex = inferior frontal gyrus = high delayers

-> Hot = ventral striatum = related to emotion = low delayers

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7
Q

What are fMRI scans?

A

A brain imaging technique which scans the brain using magnetic and radio waves.

It is designed to investigate the anatomy of the brain (its structure).

A computer converts this into an image.

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8
Q

What is meant by delayed gratification?

A

Ability to resist a reward in the present for a greater reward in the future.

The degree of people’s ability to delay gratification can be measured at an early age and can predict later life success.

It depends on cognitive control.

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9
Q

What is meant by cognitive control?

A

Our ability to suppress competing inappropriate thoughts or actions in favour of appropriate ones.

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10
Q

Research questions

A
  • Would children identified as LOW DELAYERS at age 4 show an inability to exert self-control in adulthood?
  • Will there be a difference in adults brain activity between LOW DELAYERS and HIGH DELAYERS?
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11
Q

Design

A

Repeated measures design.

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12
Q

Method

A

Quasi experiment

Longitudinal study - (4 to 40 years)

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13
Q

IV

A

Both;

Ps high delayers or low delayers

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14
Q

DV

A

1: reaction time and accuracy on go no go task = performance on the impulse control task

2: activity in target areas of brain that are associated with cognitive control = fMRI imaging results

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15
Q

Sample

A

Selected from sample of 562 Ps who completed the marshmallow test at age 4.

Retested in 20s 30s:
* 20s = 155Ps completed a self-report on the self-control.
* 30s = 135 Ps repeated self-control.

Exp 1:
59 participants:
-> Self-selected = sent letters asking them to volunteer.
* 32 high delayers = 20 women, 12 men, 44.6 years

  • 27 low delayers = 16 women, 11 men, age 44.3 years

Experiment 2:
27 Ps from exp 1 agreed take part, 26 took part

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16
Q

Procedure

Go / no-go tasks -> what they entailed.

A

Impulse control task.

Self-control was measured by a go / no-go task:

1) Requires Ps to push a button when they see a certain stimuli, and not push a button when they see a different one.

-> Go = push the button
-> No/go = don’t push it.

2) This task had a “hot” and “cool” stimuli to see how the responses different between them.
-> Total: Ps did 4 Go/No-Go tasks.

COOL TASK:

3) Ps were shown a male or female face that had a neutral expression.

4) Had to press the button whenever the male neutral face appeared.

5) Had to press the button whenever the female neutral face appeared.

HOT TASK:

6) The task was the same, but Ps were shown fearful or happy faces and were instructed to press the button when either a happy or fearful face was shown.

7) Had to press the button whenever the happy facial expression appeared.

8) Had to press the button whenever the fearful facial expressions appeared.

17
Q

Procedure

Overall

A

1) Each of the 59 Ps did these 4 tasks at home on a laptop delivered to their home.

2) Each face appeared for 500ms with a 1s interval.

3) Before each task, instructions appeared on the screen saying which face (m/f neutral face; fearful / happy face) was the TARGET STIMLUS (Go /press button) and not to press the button for the other face (No-go).

EXPERIMENT 1:
Each Ps took part in 2 runs - the hot and cool version.
-> A total pf 160 trials were presented per run in pseudorandomised order (120 go, 40 no-go).

EXPERIMENT 2:
Each Ps only run the hot version.
-> (70 go & 26 no-go trials for each expression).

A brain scan was used to assess brain activity while Ps engaged in this task.

18
Q

Casey’s prediction

A

Low delayers would produce more errors on the no-go happy facial expression than high delayers.

19
Q

Result

A

Exp 1 :
Delay gratification children: greater ability as adults

No difference between high and low - reaction time

Low delayers preformed less well than high on hot task

Mean false alarm: low
Hot
12.2%

Cool
9.96%

Experiment 2:
Low delayers committed more false alarms than high delayers but the difference was not big

Finish card!

20
Q

Results

Experiment 1
Cool test

A

No significant difference between low and high delayers

21
Q

Results

Experiment 1
Hot test (overall)

A

High delayers were SIGNIFICANTLY better than the low delayers on the “no-go” test when the stimuli was happy.

Why?
The Ps had to supress their desire to press the button - more challenging for happy face (as they are rewarding).

22
Q

Results

Experiment 1
Hot test (quantitative)

A

Both groups performed similar on the fear face no-go trials.

Low delayers produced significantly more errors on the happy no-go trial.

DATA SHOWN IN PICTURE

23
Q

How do fMRI scans work?

A

1) When a brain area is more active is consumes more oxygen, thus blood flow increases to the active area.

2) fMRI detects the changes in blood oxygenation.

3) It produces activation maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process.

24
Q

What does fMRI stand for?

A

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

25
Q

Results

Experiment 2

A

1) Same as experiment 1:
Both groups scored highly on accuracy rates for go-trials & low delayers produced more errors on no-go task.

2) Pre-frontal cortex:
Pre-frontal cortex, specifically RIGHT INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS was MORE active for the HIGH delayers on the no-go trials.

3) Ventral striatum:
MORE active for the LOW delayers on the no-go trials.

SUMMARY:

1) Results for task were the same as in experiment 1.

2) Right inferior frontal gyrus = activates during delay gratification. More for high delayers.

3) Ventral striatum = active during choices & rewards. Linked to addiction, pleasure and desire. More for low delayers.

26
Q

Results

SUMMARY

A

1) There is a significant difference of behaviour in delayed gratification tasks between high and low delayers.

2) There is a significant difference in the brain activity between high and low delayers.

27
Q

Conclusion(s)

A

1) Resistance to temptation is a fairly stable individual characteristic, as delayed gratification results from age 4, are comparable at age 40.

2) Low delayers are not ‘globally’ unable to control impulses, it is specific to certain temptations / context. The more tempting the more difficult for low delayers to resist.

3) High delayers have better mental brakes, while low delayers are driven by a stronger engine.