volunteers recruited through poster and ads
method
IV: adult or adolescent
DV: number of gambles accepted by participant in a spinner game and activity in ventral striatum
intake session
source and the amount of spending money per week
$20
they were told they would be able to gamble and win up to another $20 or lose up to $20.
all participants reported no prior diagnosis of psychiatric or neurological illness or development delays, had no metal in their bodies and were not taking psychoactive medication.
fMRI session
the method was a quasi experiment with an independent measures design, conducted in a laboratory
fMRI session
$5
$20
the participants were called in to complete some information on their income. at the end of the intake session, they were given $20 to be used as playing money in the next session.
results
one week after the intake session, the participants were called back to the fMRI session and then given an fMRI scan while they undertook a decision-making process
participants were shown an on-screen spinner. each half presented the number of dollars that could be lost or gained on each side, an amount between $5 and $20.
in the adolescents, there was significantly more activity in the ventral striatum and this showed greater activity as the expected values increased.