-
Journal of Environmental and Public... 2022Teenage depression, also known as TD, is a common mental illness that is characterized by symptoms such as hopelessness, helplessness, pessimism, depression, and...
Teenage depression, also known as TD, is a common mental illness that is characterized by symptoms such as hopelessness, helplessness, pessimism, depression, and decreased energy. It has always been a hot topic to discuss how rewards and punishments work in education. In order to prevent and treat adolescent depression, this study examines the mechanisms of educational reinforcement and punishment as well as psychological interventions. In this study, the activated brain regions are analyzed using data mining (DM) technology to determine whether they are significantly more or less active than the rest of the brain of students who are not experiencing negative emotions. When the word vector has 90 dimensions, the results demonstrate that the average 1 value of the weighted word vector method is 81.3 percent. It has been established that the approach taken in this work offers a reliable way to diagnose TD.
Topics: Adolescent; Depression; Humans; Psychosocial Intervention; Punishment; Reward; Students
PubMed: 36111067
DOI: 10.1155/2022/3919519 -
PloS One 2020A team contest entails both public good characteristics within the teams as well as a contest across teams. In an experimental study, we analyse behaviour in such a team...
A team contest entails both public good characteristics within the teams as well as a contest across teams. In an experimental study, we analyse behaviour in such a team contest when allowing to punish or to reward other team members. Moreover, we compare two types of contest environment: One in which two teams compete for a prize and another one in which we switch off the between-group element of the contest. We find that reward giving, as opposed to punishing, induces higher contributions to the team contest. Furthermore, expenditures on rewarding other co-players are significantly higher than those for punishing.
Topics: Competitive Behavior; Cooperative Behavior; Group Processes; Humans; Models, Psychological; Punishment; Reward
PubMed: 32941442
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236544 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jun 2023Decision making is a complex cognitive process that recruits a distributed network of brain regions, including the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens shell...
Decision making is a complex cognitive process that recruits a distributed network of brain regions, including the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh). Recent work suggests that communication between these structures, as well as activity of cells expressing dopamine (DA) D2 receptors (D2R) in the NAcSh, are necessary for some forms of decision making; however, the contributions of this circuit and cell population during decision making under risk of punishment are unknown. The current experiments addressed this question using circuit-specific and cell type-specific optogenetic approaches in rats during a decision making task involving risk of punishment. In experiment 1, Long-Evans rats received intra-BLA injections of halorhodopsin or mCherry (control) and in experiment 2, D2-Cre transgenic rats received intra-NAcSh injections of Cre-dependent halorhodopsin or mCherry. Optic fibers were implanted in the NAcSh in both experiments. Following training in the decision making task, BLA→NAcSh or D2R-expressing neurons were optogenetically inhibited during different phases of the decision process. Inhibition of the BLA→NAcSh during deliberation (the time between trial initiation and choice) increased preference for the large, risky reward (increased risk taking). Similarly, inhibition during delivery of the large, punished reward increased risk taking, but only in males. Inhibition of D2R-expressing neurons in the NAcSh during deliberation increased risk taking. In contrast, inhibition of these neurons during delivery of the small, safe reward decreased risk taking. These findings extend our knowledge of the neural dynamics of risk taking, revealing sex-dependent circuit recruitment and dissociable activity of selective cell populations during decision making. Until recently, the ability to dissect the neural substrates of decision making involving risk of punishment (risk taking) in a circuit-specific and cell-specific manner has been limited by the tools available for use in rats. Here, we leveraged the temporal precision of optogenetics, together with transgenic rats, to probe contributions of a specific circuit and cell population to different phases of risk-based decision making. Our findings reveal basolateral amygdala (BLA)→nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) is involved in evaluation of punished rewards in a sex-dependent manner. Further, NAcSh D2 receptor (D2R)-expressing neurons make unique contributions to risk taking that vary across the decision making process. These findings advance our understanding of the neural principles of decision making and provide insight into how risk taking may become compromised in neuropsychiatric diseases.
Topics: Female; Rats; Male; Animals; Rats, Long-Evans; Decision Making; Punishment; Rats, Transgenic; Halorhodopsins; Reward; Receptors, Dopamine D2; Nucleus Accumbens
PubMed: 37286352
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0276-23.2023 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jun 2021Prior studies on adverse outcomes of parental corporal punishment on children have focused on examining one of two broad domains of parental corporal punishment:...
Prior studies on adverse outcomes of parental corporal punishment on children have focused on examining one of two broad domains of parental corporal punishment: parental beliefs or actual use. Recently, researchers have argued that parental belief and actual use of corporal punishment should work jointly to contribute to children's depression and involvement in school violence. Yet, studies supporting this proposition are lacking. This study examined the indirect link from parental attitudes towards corporal punishment to children's depression and school violence involvement through actual use of corporal punishment. Four hundred and thirty-three elementary school students and their parents in Taiwan participated in this study. The results indicate that positive parental attitudes towards corporal punishment do not predict children's depression and involvement in school violence. However, parental attitudes towards corporal punishment had significant indirect relationships with depression and involvement in school violence through the actual use of corporal punishment. These findings applied to both genders. This study supports the proposition that parental attitudes and the actual use of corporal punishment could work together to predict children's depression and school violence. Future intervention programs for decreasing children's depressive symptoms and involvement in school violence might need to tackle corporal punishment in the family.
Topics: Adolescent; Bullying; Child; Child Abuse; Depression; Female; Humans; Male; Punishment; Schools; Taiwan; Violence
PubMed: 34200552
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18126270 -
PloS One 2023Recent laboratory findings have demonstrated that, when imposed separately, punishment and reward have different effects on motor learning. In real-world applications,...
Recent laboratory findings have demonstrated that, when imposed separately, punishment and reward have different effects on motor learning. In real-world applications, however, they are usually used in combination to improve human behavior. For instance, a student may be punished when failing an examination and rewarded when getting a high score. It remains unclear precisely how people are motivated when punishment and reward are combined. Moreover, whether it is possible for the effects of punishment and reward to transfer to other learning situations remains unknown. In the present study, four groups of participants were trained on a motor adaptation task under conditions of either punishment, reward, both punishment and reward combination, or a neutral control condition (neither). We tested what the effect of combining punishment and reward is on motor learning and memory. Further, we examined whether the effect could transfer to later opposite-direction learning in the absence of motivational feedback. Specifically, during the initial learning when there is motivational feedback, combining punishment and reward can not only accelerate learning rate, but can also increase learning extent. More interestingly, the effect can even transfer to later opposite-direction learning. The findings suggest that the combination of punishment and reward has a distinct advantage over pure punishment or reward on motor learning and the effect can transfer to opposite motor learning.
Topics: Humans; Punishment; Learning; Reward; Motivation
PubMed: 37036847
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282028 -
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology Dec 2022Children increasingly appreciate normative obligations and share resources across the preschool years. But the internal structure and behavioral relevance of normative...
Children increasingly appreciate normative obligations and share resources across the preschool years. But the internal structure and behavioral relevance of normative expressions in the context of sharing-that is, the relation with children's own sharing behavior-remains disputed. Here, 4- to 6-year-old children (N = 90; 37 female) observed protagonists sharing or not sharing resources. As measures of normative expressions, children's evaluation, punishment acceptability, non-costly punishment, and costly punishment of the protagonists as well as their moral self-concept were assessed. To measure actual prosocial behavior, children had the possibility to share resources. A factor analysis revealed that the variety of normative expressions constitutes two distinct factors: normative representation (evaluation and hypothetical punishment) and norm enforcement (actual non-costly and costly punishment). Children's moral self-concept was the only normative expression that related to sharing behavior. Person-centered analyses suggest some consistency in individual differences across normative and prosocial development, with normative expressions and sharing behavior being aligned for some children on a low level and for some children on a high level. This study advances our understanding of early normative development and highlights the internal structure of normative stances during the preschool years.
Topics: Altruism; Child; Child Behavior; Child Development; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Morals; Punishment; Social Behavior
PubMed: 35842944
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105498 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Jan 2022Third-party punishment is thought to act as an honest signal of cooperative intent and such signals might escalate when competing to be chosen as a partner. Here, we...
Third-party punishment is thought to act as an honest signal of cooperative intent and such signals might escalate when competing to be chosen as a partner. Here, we investigate whether partner choice competition prompts escalating investment in third-party punishment. We also consider the case of signalling via helpful acts to provide a direct test of the relative strength of the two types of signals. Individuals invested more in third-party helping than third-party punishment and invested more in both signals when observed compared to when investments would be unseen. We found no clear effect of partner choice (over and above mere observation) on investments in either punishment or helping. Third-parties who invested more than a partner were preferentially chosen for a subsequent Trust Game although the preference to interact with the higher investor was more pronounced in the help than in the punishment condition. Third-parties who invested more were entrusted with more money and investments in third-party punishment or helping reliably signalled trustworthiness. Individuals who did not invest in third-party helping were more likely to be untrustworthy than those who did not invest in third-party punishment. This supports the conception of punishment as a more ambiguous signal of cooperative intent compared to help.
Topics: Cooperative Behavior; Game Theory; Games, Experimental; Humans; Punishment; Trust
PubMed: 35016543
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1773 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2023Peer punishment can help groups to establish collectively beneficial public goods. However, when humans condition punishment on other factors than poor contribution,...
Peer punishment can help groups to establish collectively beneficial public goods. However, when humans condition punishment on other factors than poor contribution, punishment can become ineffective and group cooperation deteriorates. Here we show that this happens in pluriform groups where members have different socio-demographic characteristics. In our public good provision experiment, participants were confronted with a public good from which all group members benefitted equally, and in-between rounds they could punish each other. Groups were uniform (members shared the same academic background) or pluriform (half the members shared the same academic background, and the other half shared another background). We show that punishment effectively enforced cooperation in uniform groups where punishment was conditioned on poor contribution. In pluriform groups, punishment was conditioned on poor contribution too, but also partially on others' social-demographic characteristics-dissimilar others were punished more than similar others regardless of their contribution. As a result, punishment lost its effectiveness in deterring free-riding and maintaining public good provision. Follow-up experiments indicated that such discriminatory punishment was used to demarcate and reinforce subgroup boundaries. This work reveals that peer punishment fails to enforce cooperation in groups with a pluriform structure, which is rule rather than exception in contemporary societies.
Topics: Humans; Cooperative Behavior; Punishment; Group Processes; Peer Group; Teaching Rounds; Game Theory
PubMed: 37055546
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33167-2 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2022Previous studies on whether punishers are rewarded by reputational gains have yielded conflicting results. Some studies have argued that punitive behaviors potentially...
Previous studies on whether punishers are rewarded by reputational gains have yielded conflicting results. Some studies have argued that punitive behaviors potentially result in a positive evaluation, while others have found the opposite. This study aims to clarify the conditions that lead to the positive evaluation of costly punishment. Study 1 utilized one-round and repeated public goods game (PGG) situations and manipulated decision time for participants' punitive behavior toward the non-cooperative person in the situation. We also asked participants to report their impression evaluations of punitive behavior toward non-cooperative people. Moreover, utilizing the second- and third-party punishment games, Study 2 manipulated the decision time of participants' punitive behavior toward the self-interested person and asked them to evaluate the punitive behavior. The results showed that those who punished intuitively were not likely to be evaluated positively. However, punishers were rewarded when the decision to punish was made after deliberation or made by those who were not direct victims. These findings extend previous research on the evaluation of punitive behavior and reveal that deliberative punishment is evaluated positively occasionally.
PubMed: 36072018
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.794953 -
Nature Communications Jul 2020Across societies, humans punish norm violations. To date, research on the antecedents and consequences of punishment has largely relied upon agent-based modeling and...
Across societies, humans punish norm violations. To date, research on the antecedents and consequences of punishment has largely relied upon agent-based modeling and laboratory experiments. Here, we report a longitudinal study documenting punishment responses to norm violations in daily life (k = 1507; N = 257) and test pre-registered hypotheses about the antecedents of direct punishment (i.e., confrontation) and indirect punishment (i.e., gossip and social exclusion). We find that people use confrontation versus gossip in a context-sensitive manner. Confrontation is more likely when punishers have been personally victimized, have more power, and value offenders more. Gossip is more likely when norm violations are severe and when punishers have less power, value offenders less, and experience disgust. Findings reveal a complex punishment psychology that weighs the benefits of adjusting others' behavior against the risks of retaliation.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Behavior; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Morals; Motivation; Punishment; Risk Factors; Young Adult
PubMed: 32647165
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17286-2