Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - What was the aim of this study
to identify if there is a difference in neural activity between adolescent and adult brains when given risk-taking scenarios with different expected values of the outcomes of those gambles.
1 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - Outline the research method used.
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - What was the IV in this study?
Whether the ppt was adolescent or an adult
3 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - What was the DV in this study?
The performance on a simple mixed gambles games during a fMRI
4 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - Outline the sample used
19 healthy, right handed adults (25-30) (11 female, 8 male), 22 healthy right handed adolescents (13-17)(11 males, 11 females)
5 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - How was the sample obtained?
Recruited through poster and internet advertisement and through a database of prior research participants (approved through Uni of California, Los Angeles)
6 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - What did the participants had to complete beforehand as a control?
Participants were called in to complete some information on their income, both the source and amount of spending money they had per week, as this might have had an influence on their perceptions of winning or losing amounts of money.
7 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan -Name 2 controls used in this study
Familiarised with MRI scanner using a mock version. Each given $20 for taking part, told they would be able to gamble and win up to another $20 or lose up to $20. This meant they had ownership over the money and would have more interest in win/lose
8 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - Outline the procedure the ppt had to complete while in the fMRI scanner
ppt shown spinner with number of $$ that could be lost or gained on each side. Asked to say if willing to stake their $$ on the gamble. Told at end: 1 of gambles they had said they would be willing to play, would be played, they could keep outcome
9 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - Outline the gambling
There were 144 spinners, with a gain on one side such as 'win $4' and a loss on the other side such as 'lose $2'. In addition there were 24 with win/win and 24 with lose/lose gambles.
10 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - How could brain activity be affected?
The amount of risk - whether it was high loss/gain or low loss/gain - which the researchers called the Expected Value (EV). Differences in the brain would show if adolescents and adults considered risk differently.
11 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - When did the adolescents and adults not differ in their acceptance or rejection?
If the EV was positive rather tahn zero, win $1/no win or lose; more accepted the gamble if the outcome was 0 rather than negative, no-win/or lose/lose $2. So if there was no real risk.
12 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - How was risk taking shown?
The higher the EV of the win the more likely the adolescent was to accept the gamble compared to adults.
13 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - How was risk taking shown in relation to brain activity?q
Significantly more activity in left ventral striatum of the adolescents, showed greater activity as EV increased.
14 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - Outline the conclusions of the study
Value of available options has greater influence in adolescent versus adult choices, even when objective value and subjective choice are held constant. Maturational changes in neural representation of valuation during adolescence, most robust in VS
15 of 16
Barkley-Levenson and Galvan - Evaluate the research
Comments
No comments have yet been made