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level: Casey (B)

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level questions: Casey (B)

QuestionAnswer
Background- Previous research by Eigsti in 2006 showed performance on delay of gratification task in childhood predicted cognitive control tasks as young adults - Depends on cognitive control
What is the role of the inferior frontal gyrus?- Interpretations of facial expressions, emotional response - Part of the brain that is used for control of impulsive behaviour
What is the role of the ventral stratum?- Associated with reward and motivation
What is delay of gratification?- The ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a later reward
What was the aim of the research?- To see if low delayers on the marshmallow test at age 4 years still struggled with resisting temptation in adulthood - To examine areas of the brain associated with resisting temptation
What research method was used in Casey et al?- Quasi - Repeated measures design, self-control scales when in their 20s/30s, “hot” and “cool” go/no go task - Longitudinal study, followed some pts from 4 years - 40s
What was the DV in research by Casey et al?- Performance on the impulse control task in Experiment 1 - Performance on the impulse control task (in terms of reaction times and accuracy) and imaging results using fMRI
Controls- Same apparatus, same tasks, same aged children in first study, all completed the same self-report
What does FMRI stand for and what does it do- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Investigates the physiognomy of the brain
What is a high delayer?- A person with good self-control
What is a low delayer- A person with poor self-control
Outline the sample for the original delay of gratification task in the 1970s- 562, four-year-old pupils from Stanford’s Bing Nursery School completed a delay-of-gratification task
What was the IV in research by Casey et al?- Whether the participant was a high delayer or a low delayer - Naturally occurring, so could not be manipulated or controlled
What was the sample in experiment 1?- 59/117 participated - They were either low or high delayers from results of their delay-of-gratification performance + the self-control measures - Exp. 1, 32 high delayers, 27 low delayers
What was the sample in experiment 2?- 27/59 from in Exp. 1 agreed to be part of a functional neuroimaging study - Exp. 2, 15 high delayers, 11 low delayers
Outline the procedure for experiment 1- Pts completed go/no-go tasks - Cool task: male + female stimuli presented, one sex as a go, press button, other sex as a no-go, don't press the button - Stimuli appeared for 500ms, 1-s interval - Hot task: same but used happy facial expressions
Outline the procedure for experiment 2- fMRI was used to examine neural correlates of delay of gratification - Predicted that low delayers would show less activity in the right prefrontal cortex, more activity in the ventral striatum - Completed a hot task similar to exp.1 - 1 excluded for poor performance, 26 left
What were the main findings from experiment 1?- Both groups were highly accurate in correct responses in both cool + hot conditions - Both groups made more errors on the 'No-Go' tasks - Low delayers made more false alarms
What were the main findings from experiment 2?- Low delayers had higher false-alarm rates in the no-go trials - Low delayers, less activity in inferior frontal gryrus + ventral stratum
What are the main conclusions in Casey et al's research?- Ability to resist temptation is a stable characteristic - If you can resist at 4, you can resist at 40 - Ability to resist temptation supported by neural networks in brain
Evaluate the research method used in research by Casey et al- Very controlled - Detailed + objective observations of brain activity - Longitudinal study, allows to conclude that the ability to resist temptation is a relatively stable characteristic
Strengths and weaknesses of the research method- Strengths: Lab based quasi so highly controlled, standardised, allows naturally occurring IV’s to be studied - Weaknesses: Extraneous variables of completing tasks at home
Evaluate the types of data collected in research by Casey et al- Quantitative findings allowing for comparisons between participants - Easily summarised - Analysed statically
Strengths and weaknesses of the data collected- Strengths: Collected quantitative data, easy to analyse - Weaknesses: No qualitative data
Discuss the ethical issues in relation to research by Casey- Ethical, no deception, consent, no harm - Many did not take part, shows ability to withdraw
Evaluate the validity of research by Casey et al- Controlled, standardised testing and procedures - High design validity, extraneous variables controlled
Evaluate the ecological validity of research by Casey et al- Scanning in an fMRI while dong a Go/No-Go task is not something that a person would do in everyday life
Evaluate the ecological reliability of research by Casey et al- Longitudinal study, conducted over decades, not time + cost effective to replicate, hard to test reliability
Evaluate the sample used in research by Casey et al- Ppt attrition, where people drop out over time - Reduces sample size, may not be generalisable to original sample
To what extent can research by Casey et al be considered ethnocentric?- Self control + delay of gratification affected by the autonomy and physiognomy of the brain - But it is investigating a species specific behaviour - Conducted only in America, it has a culture of Capitalism + consumerism
To what extent does Casey's study support psychology as a science?- fMRI - Controlled conditions - Scientific criteria
To what extent can research by Casey et al be considered useful?- Could be used to identify addictive behaviour is young children - Allow us to understand temptation + reduce it - Taught cooling techniques
Discuss research by Casey et al in relation to the Nature vs Nurture debate- Shows a lack of self control over time - You are born with a certain brain function which determines your ability to delay gratification - However by the age of 4 our brains are reasonably developed, people may copy others resisting temptation
Discuss research by Casey et al in relation to the free will vs determinism debate- We are born with brain differences meaning some people can resist temptation and others cant
How does research by Casey et al link to the biological area?- Investigates how specific areas of the brain impact on a persons ability to resist temptation - Hot system found in VS - Cool system found in IFG - These 2 systems impact on a persons ability to delay gratification
How does research by Casey et al link to the key theme?- Looks into different areas of the brain - Linked delay gratification to IFG - VS + prefrontal cortex using fMRI scans - Low delayers, less activity in right inferior gyrus, more activity in ventral striatum
Similarities between Sperry and Casey et al.- Highly controlled lab ex. - Ethical - Regions in the brain - Sperry, corpus callosum is important for communication - Casey, ventral striatum + IFG are important in self control
Differences between Sperry and Casey et al.Casey - Brains of normal adults, so more generalisable - Longitudinal - Advanced technology, fMRI Sperry - Abnormal subjects - Snapshot - No advanced technology
How does the study of Casey improve our understanding of the regions of the brain?- Casey adds to Sperry’s research, role of the IFG + VS - Other way of looking at regions of brain using fMRI - Tells us diff. areas of brain has diff. functions
How does the contemporary study improve our understanding of individual, social and cultural diversity? INDIVIDUAL DIVERSITY- S, individual differences in brain = differences in behaviour - C furthered understanding, focuses on more specific regions of the brain - They found that the VS is associated with a lack of self-control
How does the contemporary study improve our understanding of individual, social and cultural diversity? SOCIAL DIVERSITY- Individual’s ability to resist temptation influenced by how certain areas in their brain work (RIG + VS) - We know that social situations can affect how alluring certain stimuli can be
How does the contemporary study improve our understanding of individual, social and cultural diversity? CULTURAL DIVERSITY- Both use American pts, limited in its ability to explain cultural differences - But everyone has a brain so it gives us some ideas