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Published on: August 25, 2023
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Distinct Inhibitory-Control Processes Underlie Children's Judgments of Fairness
David M Sobel1, David G Kamper1, Joo-Hyun Song1
1Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University.
Psychological Science
|January 8, 2024
Summary
Children and adults’ fairness decisions involve distinct inhibitory processes. Reach tracking reveals how cognitive conflict resolution in resource distribution changes with age, offering insights into developing inhibitory control.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Understanding fairness and resource distribution is crucial for social cognition.
- Inhibitory control plays a key role in decision-making, particularly when faced with conflicting information.
- Developmental changes in inhibitory control impact social reasoning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate developmental differences in how children and adults accept or reject resource distributions.
- To dissociate distinct inhibitory processes involved in reasoning about equitable and inequitable outcomes.
- To evaluate the utility of reach tracking as an online measure of inhibitory control.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a reach-tracking method to record 3D finger movements during resource distribution tasks.
- Dissociated two inhibitory processes: conflict detection (pausing responses) and conflict resolution (resolving response alternatives).
- Compared inhibitory processes in 5- to 8-year-olds (N=51) and adults (N=18) across various resource distributions.
Main Results:
- Reasoning about disadvantageous inequities relied more on conflict detection, a process stable across development.
- Reasoning about advantageous inequities engaged conflict resolution more, showing developmental progression.
- Reach tracking effectively measured online inhibitory control during social decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Inhibitory control mechanisms underlying fairness judgments differ between children and adults.
- Conflict detection is a foundational inhibitory process for social reasoning, present early in development.
- Reach tracking provides a valuable tool for studying the dynamics of inhibitory control in cognitive and developmental research.
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