Biological area (regions of the brain)
STUDY GUIDE WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS 100%
Background (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Mischel's marshmallow test > self control
in 562 children aged 4-6 year olds.
2/3 ate the marshmallow.
Aims (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Study whether the ability to delay gratification
was a consistent personality trait & if it can be linked to brain activity
Sample (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Marshmallow test:
562 children from Bing University Nursery, Stanford, aged 4-6
Experiment 1:
59 (32 high, 27 low delayers)
Experiment 2:
27 (15 high, 11 low delayers)
Research method (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - Longitudinal (40 yrs)
- Quasi (IV - ability to delay - not manipulated)
- Exp1 DV: reaction time & accuracy on go/nogo trails
- Exp2 DV: activity in areas of brain associated with cognitive control (right inferior
frontal gyrus & ventral striatum)
Apparatus (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - exp1: laptop
- epx2: fmri scanner
Procedure - experiment 1 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - participants tested on
laptop in own home
, - go/nogo task, participant to press button as quickly & accurately as possible when the
photo matched target
- photos shown for 500ms, with 1s interval between
- 160 (120 go, 40 nogo) tasks in randomised order
- 2 runs > 'hot' (happy & fearful faces) & 'cold' (neutral faces)
Procedure - experiment 2 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - only 'hot' version was run
(70 go & 26 nogo for each expression)
- fMRI scanner used to assess brain during the activity
Results - experiment 1 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - high delayers as children >
better impulse control as adults
- no sig diff between high/low delayers in reaction time or accuracy on go trials
Results - experiment 2 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - low delayers committed more
false alarms than high delayers on nogo trails
on nogo trails low delayers had:
- reduced activity in right inferior frontal cortex (control centre)
- higher activity in ventral striatum (rewards centre) when shown a happy face
Conclusions (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - children's ability to delay gratification is
consistent into their adult lives
- differences in ability to delay gratification are apparently both behaviourally & neurally
- important implications for cognitive control i.e. addiction
Evaluation of research method (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Longitudinal, quasi
S: quasi - allows us to study innate behaviour that cannot be manipulated (ability to
delay gratification)
S: longitudinal - measure change over time
W: cannot control confounding variables (e.g. personality differences such as attention
span impacting impulse control)
W: longitudinal - very high attrition
STUDY GUIDE WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS 100%
Background (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Mischel's marshmallow test > self control
in 562 children aged 4-6 year olds.
2/3 ate the marshmallow.
Aims (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Study whether the ability to delay gratification
was a consistent personality trait & if it can be linked to brain activity
Sample (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Marshmallow test:
562 children from Bing University Nursery, Stanford, aged 4-6
Experiment 1:
59 (32 high, 27 low delayers)
Experiment 2:
27 (15 high, 11 low delayers)
Research method (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - Longitudinal (40 yrs)
- Quasi (IV - ability to delay - not manipulated)
- Exp1 DV: reaction time & accuracy on go/nogo trails
- Exp2 DV: activity in areas of brain associated with cognitive control (right inferior
frontal gyrus & ventral striatum)
Apparatus (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - exp1: laptop
- epx2: fmri scanner
Procedure - experiment 1 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - participants tested on
laptop in own home
, - go/nogo task, participant to press button as quickly & accurately as possible when the
photo matched target
- photos shown for 500ms, with 1s interval between
- 160 (120 go, 40 nogo) tasks in randomised order
- 2 runs > 'hot' (happy & fearful faces) & 'cold' (neutral faces)
Procedure - experiment 2 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - only 'hot' version was run
(70 go & 26 nogo for each expression)
- fMRI scanner used to assess brain during the activity
Results - experiment 1 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - high delayers as children >
better impulse control as adults
- no sig diff between high/low delayers in reaction time or accuracy on go trials
Results - experiment 2 (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - low delayers committed more
false alarms than high delayers on nogo trails
on nogo trails low delayers had:
- reduced activity in right inferior frontal cortex (control centre)
- higher activity in ventral striatum (rewards centre) when shown a happy face
Conclusions (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER - children's ability to delay gratification is
consistent into their adult lives
- differences in ability to delay gratification are apparently both behaviourally & neurally
- important implications for cognitive control i.e. addiction
Evaluation of research method (Casey) CORRECT ANSWER Longitudinal, quasi
S: quasi - allows us to study innate behaviour that cannot be manipulated (ability to
delay gratification)
S: longitudinal - measure change over time
W: cannot control confounding variables (e.g. personality differences such as attention
span impacting impulse control)
W: longitudinal - very high attrition
