O efeito do treino de autocontrole sobre o desempenho de escolha no Jogo da Partilha
Abstract
All behavior implies choice and every choice, like all behavior, is installed and
maintained by the consequences it produces in the environment. Choices are at the basis
of what decision-making behaviors are. Self-control, for example, refers to the choice of
a stimulus that produces delayed reinforcement, but of greater magnitude, as opposed to
choice by a stimulus that produces an immediate reinforcement but of a smaller
magnitude, known as impulsivity. Much of what is meant by social behavior can also be
understood under the approach of behavior of choice, such as generosity, selfishness, and
altruism. Generosity has been defined as a systematic pattern of choices that benefits the
other in the same way that it benefits the one who makes the choice. Selfishness, on the
other hand, has been defined as a pattern of choices that benefits the one making the
choice and less the other, and altruism, a pattern of choices that benefits the other and
nothing, or almost nothing, the one that makes the choice. To study the different patterns
of choice the area has used an instrument known as Sharing Game. Studies that have used
this game to study the phenomena of generosity and self-control have shown that such
processes can be influenced by variables such as differences between genders, cultures
and cost of response. However, no study was conducted to investigate whether a
participant who had a selfish response pattern, after undergoing self-control training,
could have his pattern of selfish responses modified by a pattern of optimized responses
in the Sharing Game. The goal of these studies was to evaluate the effect of a self-control
training on the emission of optimized responses in the Sharing Game in participants with
typical (Study 1) and atypical (Study 2) development. In Study 1, initially the participants
were submitted to the Sharing Game and the temporary discount task. If they had their
response patterns classified as selfish and impulsive, they underwent a self-controlled
response training, which involved a simple discrimination (TDS), reinforcement quantity
training (TDR) and reinforcement delay training (TAR). Participants were then submitted
to the abrupt reinforcement delay condition (AAA) and later to a high preference activity
self-control training (CEAP). Finally, participants were again submitted to the Sharing
Game to identify whether self-control training had an effect on the emission of optimized
responses. The same procedures were applied in Study 2, however, initially it was tested
if the participant presented discrimination of the greater relation between the Numerals
and later, he was submitted to all sequence of procedures of the previous study. The
results of study 1 demonstrated that the participant, who initially presented a pattern of
selfish responses in the Sharing Game and an impulsive pattern in the task of temporal
discount, after being submitted to the training of self-control, started to chose significantly
more optimized responses in the Sharing Game. The results obtained in study 2, with
participants with atypical development, demonstrated that the participants did not present
the necessary prerequisites to verify if a pattern of selfish responses in the Sharing Game
and impulsive in the task of temporal discount can be altered after the participants are
submitted to self-control training