Casey et al. (2011): Neural Correlates of Delay of Gratification
Delay of Gratification
How we are able (or not able) to resist temptation.
By resisting temptation, we are delaying our gratification as we are holding back
from something that we want.
Biological psychologists are interested in finding out what brain processes and areas
are involved in resisting and giving in to temptation.
Aim
To build on previous research to assess whether delay of gratification in childhood
predicts the impulse and self-control abilities at the behaviour and neural level in
adulthood.
Research Method
This study is a quasi-experiment because the IV if naturally occurring, not
manipulated by the researcher.
IV – whether the participant was a high or low delayer.
Experiment 1 DV – the participants’ performance on the impulse control task in
terms of reaction times and accuracy.
Experiment 2 DV – the participants’ performance on the impulse control task in
terms for reaction times and accuracy, but also the researchers examined the brain
scan results from the fMRI to show which brain regions were involved when
completing delay of gratification tasks.
Experimental Design
The experimental design in this study is both independent measures and repeated
measures.
Independent measures – participants were grouped as either high or low delayers,
they could not be both.
Repeated measures – participants completed both the ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ version of the
go/no-go task.
The study followed some of the participants from when they were 4 until they were
in their 40s – longitudinal study. Showing the development of delay of gratification
over an extended period of time. This helped see if certain characteristics are stable
throughout life and can be predicted from a young age.
Participants
The original delay of gratification task was conducted in the 1970s at Stanford Bing
Nursery School. There were 562 children of 4 years old who took part.
In 1993, these children were in their 20s, 155 of the original sample took part in the
self-report measures of self-control.
The same self-report was given again in 2003 when the children were in their 30s.
135 of the original participants took part.
The self-report measure was reliable, and the participants’ self-control was relatively
stable.
In 2011, the participants were now in their 40s, 117 of the 135 participants were
contacted to take part.
Experiment 1 Experiment 2
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