Feasibility of Shaping Tolerance for Delayed Rewards in Impulsive 3-5 year olds

自我控制的问题与公共健康有很大关系，因为它们与 滥用药物，冲动自杀，学业和社会成就不佳，财务规划，身体和 心理健康，对个人和社会都有影响。自我控制的发展是至关重要的 在学校环境和同伴关系中走向成功的过程，但很少有 在提高自制力方面取得成功的非药理学方法。父母更喜欢 非药理学方法，特别是对年幼儿童。Schweitzer和Sulzer-Azaroff的研究[1] 研究表明，高冲动率的学龄前儿童的自控力可以通过以下方式提高 使用一种“塑造”程序，在这个过程中，对更大、更延迟的奖励的延迟逐渐增加。这 这一发现还有待于复制。我们在目前的项目研究论证中的目标是测试 使程序适应游戏技术。在此概念验证研究中，我们将开发和测试 基于Android的应用程序Delta(延迟容错应用程序)，旨在运行在当前一代平板电脑上 计算机和手机，并评估其增加更大延迟奖励选择的可行性 小的，更快的回报。这款应用程序将为孩子们提供即时、短时间的选择 玩游戏的时间与延迟的、更长的游戏时间相比。比赛的延迟将会 逐渐增加，从而教会孩子延迟或自我控制，就像孩子学会的那样 等着奖励吧。该应用程序还将根据孩子的个人情况确定奖励的延迟时间 回应。这个项目是必要的，以帮助确定在这个时代评估自我控制的必要程序。 小组，包括程序中使用的奖励的时间和大小，用于临床试验的准备。 在人体实验环境中使用实时奖励的情况很少见，但也可能更多 比传统使用假想的奖励和延迟更有效。我们的实时，“消耗品-游戏 奖励“在发展上是适当的，在生态上是有效的。这个概念验证项目是必要的 确定可行性，包括测试是否可以使用游戏技术来分散提供奖励 对于这个年龄段，以适合发展的方式。 然后，该项目的结果将被用于进一步修改干预并最终在 未来的R21或R01项目将开发出将干预推广到家庭和 学校环境。该项目与针对NIDA的预防的翻译方法是一致的 和2010年战略计划中的治疗目标和NIMH的RDoC目标 根据可观察到的行为和神经生物学指标的维度对精神障碍进行分类。

Problems with self-control are of major relevance to public health as they are associated with increased substance abuse, impulsive suicidality, poor academic and social success, financial planning, physical and mental health, impacting both individuals and society. The development of self-control is a critically important process toward success in the school environment and in peer relationships, yet there are few nonpharmacological approaches that have been successful in increasing self-control. Parents prefer nonpharmacological approaches, particularly for young children. A study by Schweitzer and Sulzer-Azaroff [1] demonstrated that self-control could be increased in preschool-aged children with high rates of impulsivity by using a “shaping” procedure in which delays to larger, more delayed rewards were gradually increased. This finding has yet to be replicated. Our goal in this current proof of project study is to test the feasibility of adapting the procedure to gaming technology. In this proof of concept study we will develop and test an Android-based application, DelTA (delay tolerance app), designed to run on current generation tablet computers and cell phones and assess its feasibility for increasing choices of larger delayed rewards over small, sooner rewards. The app will be designed to present choices to the children between immediate, short periods of game playing versus delayed, longer periods of game playing. The delays to the game playing will be gradually increased, thereby teaching the child “tolerance” to delay, or self-control, as the child learns to wait for the reward. The app will also titrate the delays to the reward depending upon the child’s individual response. This project is necessary to help identify the procedures necessary to assess self-control in this age group, including the timing and size of the rewards used in the procedures, for preparation of a clinical trial. The use of real time rewards in the experimental setting with humans is rare, but also potentially much more effective over the traditional use of hypothetical rewards and delays. Our real time, “consumable-game playing rewards” will be developmentally appropriate and ecologically-valid. This proof of concept project is necessary to establish feasibility including to test if gaming technology can be used to deliver the rewards in discrete units, for this age group, in a manner that is developmentally appropriate. Findings from this project will then be used to further modify the intervention and to ultimately test it in future R21 or R01 projects that will develop ways to build in generalization of the intervention to the home and school environment. This project is consistent with the translational approach in response to NIDA’s Prevention and Treatment Objectives in the 2010 Strategic Plan and NIMH’s RDoC Objective “Developing new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures.”