SLIDE 1
SLIDE 2 It is critical for economics to incorporate methods and insights developed in other disciplines, notably the natural sciences.
- 1. Observe and characterize human
economic behavior
- 2. Make efforts to understand the
biological foundation of that behavior
- 3. Build improved economic models that
incorporate constraints and processes consistent with the biology
- f economic decision making
SLIDE 3
Temptation
SLIDE 4
SLIDE 5 Resist!
7:00 am 10:00 am 2:00 pm 5:00 pm
Temptations are unavoidable…
SLIDE 6
Resisting a temptation requires energy… The marshmallow test (Mischel, 1972)
SLIDE 7 The famous “marshmallow test.”
- Mischel and Ebbeson, with 4-year-old
subjects. “Here is a marshmallow for you. I have to leave the lab for 10 minutes. If you can refrain from eating the marshmallow until I return, you can have a second marshmallow.”
- Results put children into three categories:
– Some children did wait for the delayed reward.
- A predictor of later academic
success! – Many children chose to take the lesser reward immediately. – A third group of children waited several minutes, only to end up eating the marshmallow before the researcher returned.
SLIDE 8 The Marshmallow Experiment
Attention to the rewards strongly influenced the
- utcomes in the experiment.
– Children who managed to distract themselves from the marshmallow (or other reward) were much more likely to “pass” the marshmallow test. – Follow-up research found that putting the marshmallow inside a desk drawer helped the subjects become much more successful at waiting.
SLIDE 9 Self-regulation is governed by a limited resource
that allows people to control impulses and desires
(Baumeister and Heatherton, 1996)
Effort required to control behavior in one domain
leads to diminished capacity for self regulation in
- ther domains (Vohs and Heatherton, 2000).
willpower
available resource
SLIDE 10
- As a result, many employees delay gratification and
wait to the end of the workday to use the Internet.
- Is this a good idea? Has this prohibition an effect on
workers’ productivity?
- To encourage worker productivity, offices
adopt policies prohibiting Internet use during work hours, with some even monitoring employees' internet activities.
SLIDE 11
Task 1: Temptation Task 2: Work Asked to resist => less productive? Not asked to resist => more productive?
SLIDE 12 Simple experiment:
Temptation Work No Temptation
Bucciol, Houser, Piovesan, 2010
SLIDE 13
Why children (of different ages)?
Self-regulatory resources are depleted more quickly in children aged less than 8 than in children aged over 10 (see, e.g., Mischel and Metzner, 1962).
Young:
(<9)
Old:
(>9)
Strong effect Weak effect
SLIDE 14
CUS summer camp (Padova) 2 days in July 123 children
Our experiment:
SLIDE 15
Control Treatment Temptation Treatment
SLIDE 16 Task (10 min):
- 1. First fold the sheet
- 2. Then fold it once more
- 3. And once more again
- 4. Place the label, highlight the star
and close the sheet with a paper clip
SLIDE 17
Payment:
1 token per sheet (approx. 0.10 Euro) Tokens can be exchange at the club house of the summer camp
SLIDE 18 Effect of exposure to temptation on their productivity: Children < 9 are 21. 5% less productive in TT than in CT. Children ≥ 9 are not significantly influenced by exposure to temptation.
Bucciol, Houser, Piovesan, 2010
SLIDE 19 Summary:
- Children aged between 6 and 13 were exposed (or
not) to a consumption temptation.
- Exposure to temptation reduces economic
productivity.
- Consistent with willpower depletion, temptation
exposure negatively affects the productivity of younger children only.
SLIDE 20 Bucciol, Houser, Piovesan, 2011
SLIDE 21
Simple experiment:
Work Temptation Work No Temptation
SLIDE 22
Counting task
Short videos (approx 1 min. each) are shown. In these videos there are people passing each other a ball. Subjects have to count the number of passes and indicate the exact number of passes they have seen.
SLIDE 23
Temptation
Subjects are randomly assigned to two groups: A (No Willpower) and B (Willpower). Subjects in group A will watch a humorous video for 10 minutes. This video start automatically.
SLIDE 24
Temptation
Group B cannot see the video but they hear the sound. A red button appears saying “VIDEO”. They are asked not press the button.. If they press, after a first warning, the video will start automatically. All subjects receive 250 points in this phase.
SLIDE 25
SLIDE 26 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NWT WT
Results (# of mistakes)
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 1 2 3
Phase 1 Phase 3
3 3 10 3
Bucciol, Houser, Piovesan, 2011
SLIDE 27 Implications:
Resisting temptation reduces productivity and increases errors. Solutions?
- 1. Remove temptations
- 2. Breaks/vacations
SLIDE 28
Debate:
Fiv ive Minute inute Eco Economis mist's 's Blog Blog
SLIDE 29
SLIDE 30 What about Working for Others?
Salletta, Houser, et. al, 2010
SLIDE 31 Task: Delayed match to sample task.
Salletta, Houser, et. al, 2010
SLIDE 32
Task: Delayed match to sample task. 1 Display H P W X L
SLIDE 33
Task: Delayed match to sample task. 2 Brief Delay
SLIDE 34
Task: Delayed match to sample task. 3 Display W P J
SLIDE 35 Task: Delayed match to sample task. 1 Display H P W X L 2 brief delay, 3 Display W P J 4 Decide Is (3) a proper subset
SLIDE 36 Task: Delayed match to sample task. 1 Display H P W X L 2 brief delay, 3 Display W P J 4 Decide Is (3) a proper subset
5 Correct responses earn money
SLIDE 37
Treatments: Four monetary reward conditions: * Self * Stranger (who cannot affect payoffs) * Neither * None Two avoidable effort costs: * Zero, 15 (only to Self)
SLIDE 38 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Frequency Treatment
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
92% Avg. Ind. Success
SLIDE 39 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Frequency Treatment 89% Avg. Ind. Success
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
SLIDE 40 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Frequency Treatment 62% Avg. Ind. Success
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
SLIDE 41 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Frequency Treatment
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
SLIDE 42 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Cost Frequency Treatment
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
SLIDE 43 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Cost Frequency Treatment
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
SLIDE 44 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Cost Frequency Treatment
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
SLIDE 45 5 10 15 20 Self Other Neither Both No Cost Stranger Cost Frequency Treatment
Average Number of Attempts from Second Half of the Experiment Plus/Minus Two Standard Deviations
SLIDE 46 Motivation
Small monetary cost extinguishes effort First question: Which neural
mechanisms are involved in delaying gratification and evaluating rewards for
SLIDE 47 Stimulus
“potential” phase “results” phase
SLIDE 48 Results: Other > Self
Medial frontal activation
Figure 12. [Other>Neither] – [Self>Neither] medial frontal activation in Other>Self conditions when viewing results. Corrected at p<.05
SLIDE 49 Results
Figure 13 [Other>Neither] – [Self>Neither] Left Superior Temporal activation in Other>Self conditions when viewing results. Corrected at p<.05
Left superior temporal activation
SLIDE 50 Results
Figure 14 [Other>Neither] – [Self>Neither] Right temporal pole activation in Other>Self conditions when viewing results. Corrected at p<.05
Right temporal pole activation
SLIDE 51 Results in Context
Viewing results earned for counterpart Viewing results earned for self Typical* reward activation Typical theory of mind activation
SLIDE 52 Discussion
To work for others – including one’s future self - requires one to exercise willpower and delay gratification. ToM mechanisms – implicated in cooperation - seem to mediate delay of gratification even when
- ther people (such as one’s future self) are absent
from the environment. Money is seen as an individual resource: its presence can change one’s willingness/ability to delay gratification.
SLIDE 53
