Casey Flashcards
What was the age of the children in the delay of gratification task?
4 years old
What treat was used in the delay of gratification task?
Marshmallow
What was the reward for waiting 15 minutes in the delay of gratification task?
A second marshmallow
What percentage of children who attempted to deferred gratification did so successfully?
1/3 33.3
What strategies did some children use to avoid eating the marshmallow?
Covering their eyes, turning around, kicking the desk, or stroking the marshmallow
What was the research question of this study
Does the ability to delay gratification as a child predict the ability of adults in their 40s to control impulses and predict sensitivity to social cues (happy faces) at the behavioural and neural level?
What type of research method is used?
Quasi experiment
What is the independent variable in the study?
Whether each participant is a high delayer or a low delayer
What type of design is used in the study?
Longitudinal design
From what age to what age are participants followed in the study?
From age 4 to mid-40s
How many 4-year-olds were in the sample during the 1960s?
562
How many participants completed self-control scales in their 20s?
155
How many participants completed self-control scales again in their 30s?
135
How many participants were selected based on their delay of gratification and self-control measures?
59
How many high delayers were in the study?
32
How many low delayers were in the study?
27
How many participants agreed to participate in the neuroimaging study?
27
What was the gender breakdown of the participants who agreed to the neuroimaging study?
13 male and 14 female
What is the procedure for the go vs no-go impulse cool control test?
Participants are shown male or female faces and must press a button for ‘go’ but not for ‘no-go’.
What are the four conditions in the cool version of the go vs no-go test?
Male go, female go, male no-go, female no-go.
How long are the faces projected in the cool version of the go vs no-go test?
500 milliseconds.
What is the interval between face presentations in the cool version of the go vs no-go test?
1 second.
What types of faces are used in the hot version of the go vs no-go test?
Happy or fearful faces.
What is recorded during the go vs no-go impulse control test?
Accuracy and reaction times.
What is the procedure for the go vs no-go impulse hot control test?
The task is the same but the faces are happy or fearful
What imaging technique was used in Experiment 2?
fMRI
What type of task was completed in Experiment 2?
Go/no-go task
What was the ‘hot version’ of the task in Experiment 2?
Participants were told which gender is the target.
How many faces were projected on the screen in Experiment 2?
48 male or female faces
What emotions were displayed on the faces in Experiment 2?
Happy or fearful
How long was each face displayed in Experiment 2?
500 ms
What was the interval between face presentations in Experiment 2?
1 second
What were participants instructed to do for ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ options in Experiment 2?
Press button for go, but no for no-go.
What two brain regions were imaged in Experiment 2?
Right prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum
How many participants were involved in the fMRI imaging in Experiment 2?
26 participants
What did the study find about low delayers as children in adulthood?
Participants who were low delayers as children showed more difficulty as adults in suppressing responses to hot cues (happy faces) than those who were high delayers.
Which brain region was active when participants accurately withheld responses?
The right inferior frontal gyrus was active when accurately withholding (no-go) responses.
How did the brain activity of low delayers compare to high delayers during correct no-go trials?
Compared to the high delayers, the low delayers had less activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus for correct no-go trials.
What was observed in the pre-frontal cortex during happy no-go trials in low delayers?
The pre-frontal cortex (ventral striatum) showed more activity to happy no-go trials in low delayers.
What is a stable individual difference that predicts biases in brain circuitries related to motivation and control?
Resistance to temptation as a child
What difficulty do individuals who had trouble resisting temptation at age 4 face as adults?
They have more difficulty suppressing responses to positive social cues.
