Engaging Mental Effort: Process- and Person-Based Reward Experiences, Effort Reinforcement Intervention, and Cascading Effects on Challenging Tasks
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Performance Rewards, Effort Rewards.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Performance vs. Effort Rewards. Basic parameters: 9 years — 13 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
Brief Summary: The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the influences of children's prior experiences with rewards following successes at school and interventions aimed at influencing children's preferences for challenging cognitive tasks. The main questions this study aims to answer are as follows: 1. Does the frequency of process-based rewards (e.g., rewards for working hard) vs. outcomes-based rewards (i.e., rewards for a good grade) predict children's preferences for challenging cognitive tasks? 2. Does providing rewards for taking on effortful cognitive tasks increase children's preferences for challenging cognitive tasks more than providing rewards for performing well on cognitive tasks? 3. Does receiving rewards for taking on effortful cognitive tasks increase children's challenge-seeking in novel tasks and questionnaires relevant for academic achievement that have not been previously linked with rewards? Participants will complete the following tasks: 1. A matrix completion problem solving task, with options to seek tips for solving problems and options to quit early. 2. A response inhibition task, with options to complete a harder or easier version of the task. 3. A cognitive flexibility task, with options to complete a harder or easier version of the task. 4. A puzzle completion task, with an option to quit early. 5. Answer a set of questions about academic effort 6. Parents will complete a set of questions about how they responded to children's recent successes and failures at school.
Detailed description
In Session 1, 9.00 - 13.00-year-olds will complete the Persistence, Effort, Resilience, and Challenge-seeking task with matrix completion problems. Then, participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: A group rewarded for selecting a more challenging cognitive task over an easier cognitive task or a group rewarded for performing well regardless of which cognitive task they select to play. Participants will then complete the response inhibition task, with easier or harder options, and the task switching task, with easier or harder options, prior to receiving rewards, while receiving rewards (response inhibition only), and after receiving rewards. Then, participants will answer questions about their task preferences and questions about their academic effort. Parents will complete questionnaires about how they responded to children's recent successes and failures at school and about their efforts in helping children succeed in school.
In Session 2, approximately one week later, participants will complete the response inhibition tasks while receiving rewards according to their respective group assignments. Then, participants will complete the response inhibition task and task-switching task without rewards, an impossible puzzle task, and the Persistence, Effort, Resilience, and Challenge-seeking task. Lastly, participants will answer questions about their academic effort and general preferences for engaging in mental effort. Parents will complete questionnaires about how they responded to children's recent successes and failures at school.
Interventions
- Behavioral Performance Rewards
Participants receive more rewards for fast and accurate task performance and fewer rewards for slow and accurate task performance. - Behavioral Effort Rewards
Participants receive more rewards for choosing to complete the more difficult task and responding accurately and fewer rewards for choosing to complete the less difficult task and responding accurately.
Primary outcome measures
- Cognitive Effort Avoidance - Reinforced Task [Time frame: Immediately after the intervention]
- Cognitive Effort Avoidance - Novel Task [Time frame: Immediately after the intervention and primary outcome 1]
Secondary outcome measures (2)
- Challenge-Seeking [Time frame: Immediately after the follow-up intervention dose]
- Persistence on Impossible Puzzles [Time frame: Immediately after the follow-up intervention dose and secondary outcome measure 1.]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
\- Children aged 9.00-13.00 years
Exclusion criteria
- Known or diagnosed developmental disorder (autism, ADHD, other learning disorders or developmental delays)
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
Study locations
United States · 1 center
- Center for Mind and Brain — Davis
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07557732 · 1518244-A · R01HD086184