Stop Saying That It Is Wrong! Psychophysiological, Cognitive, and Metacognitive Markers of Children's Sensitivity to Punishment

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2015 Jul 29

PMID 26218584

Citations 2

Authors

Maria Luz Gonzalez-Gadea

Anouk Scheres

Carlos Andres Tobon

Juliane Damm

Sandra Baez

David Huepe

Julian Marino

Sandra Marder

Facundo Manes

Sofia Abrevaya

Agustin Ibanez

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Neurodevelopmental evidence suggests that children's main decision-making strategy is to avoid options likely to induce punishment. However, the cognitive and affective factors contributing to children's avoidance to high punishment frequency remain unknown. The present study explored psychophysiological, cognitive, and metacognitive processes associated with sensitivity to punishment frequency. We evaluated 54 participants (between 8 and 15 years old) with a modified Iowa Gambling Task for children (IGT-C) which included options with varying long-term profit and punishment frequencies. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) were recorded during this task. Additionally, we assessed IGT-C metacognitive knowledge, fluid intelligence, and executive functions. Participants exhibited behavioral avoidance and high anticipatory SCRs to options with high frequency of punishment. Moreover, age, IGT-C metacognitive knowledge, and inhibitory control were associated with individual differences in sensitivity to punishment frequency. Our results suggest that children's preference for infrequently punished decisions is partially explained by psychophysiological signals as well as task complexity and development of cognitive control.

Citing Articles

A scoping review on self-regulation and reward processing measured with gambling tasks: Evidence from the general youth population.

Bentivegna F, Papachristou E, Flouri E PLoS One. 2024; 19(4):e0301539.

PMID: 38574098 PMC: 10994357. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301539.

Neural markers of social and monetary rewards in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Gonzalez-Gadea M, Sigman M, Rattazzi A, Lavin C, Rivera-Rei A, Marino J Sci Rep. 2016; 6:30588.

PMID: 27464551 PMC: 4964357. DOI: 10.1038/srep30588.

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