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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 26, 2025

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

Published on: April 6, 2018

Taking the chance!-Interindividual differences in rule-breaking.

Leidy Cubillos-Pinilla¹, Franziska Emmerling²

¹Neurophysiology Leadership Laboratory, Technical University München-School of Management, Chair of Research and Science Management, Munich, Germany.

|October 7, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Some people break rules for personal gain, while others follow them even at a loss. This study reveals rule-breakers experience more cognitive conflict but achieve higher payoffs, offering insights into decision-making differences.

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Last Updated: Aug 26, 2025

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

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Published on: April 6, 2018

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

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An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

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Published on: May 3, 2016

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Behavioral Economics

Background:

Interindividual differences in rule-breaking behavior are understudied.
Understanding why some individuals violate norms for personal benefit is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate cognitive characteristics differentiating rule-breakers from rule-followers.
Examine the role of cognitive conflict in spontaneous, deliberative rule-breaking.

Main Methods:

Developed a computerized task incentivizing rule violation for gain.
Recruited 133 participants to assess rule-following vs. rule-breaking tendencies.
Measured cognitive conflict via response times and mouse movement trajectories.

Main Results:

52% of participants were rule-breakers, 48% were rule-followers.
Rule-breakers experienced significantly more cognitive conflict but achieved higher payoffs.
Cognitive conflict in rule-breakers was higher during rule violation and action planning, increasing with frequency.

Conclusions:

Results align with the Decision-Implementation-Mandatory switch-Inhibition model, extending its application to individual differences.
Personality traits like extroversion, disagreeableness, risk propensity, and impulsiveness influence rule-following/breaking behavior.
This research provides a foundation for understanding cognitive traits in spontaneous rule-breaking.