Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert

University of Desarrollo | UDD · Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social (CICS)

The aim of this research project is the study of the electrophysiological correlation between the processes of attention and cognitive control in primary-school-aged children (with typically developing, attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome and autism) and the emergence of cooperative, competitive and aggressive behaviors.

The study of the electrophysiological correlation between the processes of attention and cognitive control in primary-school-aged children (with typically developing, attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome and autism) and the emergence of cooperative, competitive and aggressive behaviors.

Behavior within relations of trust, specifically trustworthiness, greatly determines the efficiency of social groups (La Porta et al, 1997). In order to contribute to our understanding of how these capacities are built, we will comparatively study the cognitive and behavioral response of agents drawn from different age groups when trust is placed in them. The research framework of our enquiry on the mechanisms underlying such response is that of Neuroeconomics, an emergent interdisciplinary field of study which combines the methods of experimental and behavioral economics with those of social neuroscience (see Camerer et al, 2005; Sanfey, 2007). A set of results from experimental economists show that behavior in a set of social dilemma behavior substantially varies across different age groups (Beneson et al, 2007; Harbaugh et al, 2007, 2012). In the context of relations of trust, the experimental evidence on the trustee's response not only shows variation at the behavioral level between different age groups, but also suggests differences in the underlying motives (Camerer, 2003; Belli et al, 2012). Developmental psychologists tend to understand these differences by emphasizing that the internalization of social rules is a gradual process (Kolhberg, 1971; Hy and Loevinger, 1996). Recent advances in social neurosciences, however, suggest that these differences might also have a neuroanatomical foundation. Three neurobiological systems are involved in the implementation of social behavior: the reward, the cognitive control and the social cognition systems (King-Casas and Chiu, 2012; Declerck et al, 2013). The degree of development of each system modulates the weight attached to such system in the social decision-making process. Steinbeis et al (2013), for instance, show that behavioral inhibition -modulated by the neuroanatomical development of the cognitive control systems- plays a crucial role in the implementation of fair behavior in bargaining games. The aim of this project is threefold. First, we would like to contribute to the stock of empirical evidence on the differences on prosocial behavior by studying the trustee's response for three different samples: children (10- 12), adolescents (14-16) and young adults (20-22). Second, we would like to identify which components of the agent's social preferences -with special attention to reciprocity and inequity aversion-motivates his response within each age group and how changes the weight attached to each component among them. Third, we would like to understand the role that differential development of the neurobiological systems involved in social behavior might play in explaining these differences. In order to fulfill this, we will study a modified version of Berg et al (1995)'s experimental design. During the participation in the behavioral experiment, the experimental subject's brain activity will be measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which detects associated blood flow of activated brain areas. In order to complement these measures, experimental subjects will participate of a behavioral inhibition task as their brain activity is captured with electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques to specifically investigate the maturity of the cognitive control system. In our modified version of Berg et al's Investment game, the trustee faces three possible scenarios: distrust, partial trust and full trust. In order to differentiate between intention-based and outcome-based motivations of the trustee, two alternative treatments are considered. In the baseline treatment, it is the truster who decides the level of investment. In the alternative treatment, the decision is randomly taken by a computer (the investment game becomes a set of dictator game in terms of the payoff structure). In contrast with most neuroeconomic studies, which have focused on the neural correlates of trusting behavior (e.g., Fett et al, 2013). Neurophysiological measures will be associated with the reaction of the trustee, first, when informed about the truster's decision; and, later, when he decides how to share the benefits from the truster's investment. We hope that a better account of age-specific behavioral responses and its motives in relations of trust together with a better understanding of the underlying brain mechanisms will help us identify deviating patterns that may represent early manifestation of risk factors associated with the socialization process. Our results in complementation to similar studies that have focused on trusting decisions should give us a more comprehensive understanding of relations of trust as whole in different stages of development and thus inform educational policies associated with improving the social life in our schools.