遅延選択行動に関する発達的研究

井上 厚; 佐藤 正二; 佐藤 容子

doi:10.4992/jjpsy.50.82

DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY IN DELAYED PREFERENCE BEHAVIOR

ATSUSHI INOUYE, SHOJI SATO, YOKO SATO

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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

1979 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 82-88

DOI https://doi.org/10.4992/jjpsy.50.82

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Published: July 20, 1979 Received: January 23, 1979 Available on J-STAGE: July 16, 2010 Accepted: - Advance online publication: - Revised: -
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Date of correction: July 16, 2010 Reason for correction: - Correction: ABSTRACT Details: Wrong : One of the purposes of the present study was to investigate the developmental trends in children's choice behavior in a delay-of-gratification paradigm. The other was to determine which of the two cues, amounts of reward or delay interval, was more important for children who chose the immediate or the delayed rewards consistently.
The subjects were 43 four-year-olds, 117 five-year-olds, and 38 seven-year-olds. They were required to choose between five reward pairs under each of the following four conditions. (a) IS-DL condition chose between an immediate-small and a delayed-large rewards, (b) IL-DS condition chose between an immediate-large and a delayed-small rewards, (c) Interval choice condition chose between an immediate-large and a delayed-large rewards or chose between an immediate-small and a delayed-small rewards, which involved some interval differences between the two rewards as the only relevant cue for one's choice, and (d) Reward choice condition chose between an immediate-small and an immediate-large rewards, or chose between a delayed-small and a delayed-large rewards, where some quantitative differences between the two rewards were the only determinant for one's choice.
The main results were as follows:
(a) Age difference was significant only in the IS-DL condition out of the four experimental conditions. The seven-year-olds chose significantly more delayed-large rewards than the four- and the five-year-olds.
(b) Children who consistently chose immediate-small rewards at the IS-DL condition (CIS responders) made significantly fewer choices of large rewards in the Reward choice condition and more choices of immediate rewards in the Interval choice condition than children who consistently chose delayed-large rewards in the IS-DL condition (CDL responders), the latter condition nearly reaching significance.
These results indicated that the children in the present experiment, regardless of their ages, used both the delay interval and the amount of the reward as helpful cues for their choices.
The absence of age difference in choice admitted the validity of the traditional method to test children's delay of gratification behavior.
It was suggested that some of the CIS responders used exclusively the interval differences between the two rewards as a helpful cue for choice and that some of the CDL responders used exclusively the quantitative differences as a cue for their choices, although most of the CIS and the CDL responders took the two different kinds of the cues into account at the time of choice.
Right : A total of children aged four, five and seven were required to make a choice between two rewards which differed in the following four conditions; (a) choice between an immediate-small and a delayed-large rewards, (b) choice between an immediate-large (small) and a delayed-large (small) rewards, (c) choice between an immediate (delayed)-large and an immediate (delayed)-small rewards, and (d) choice between an immediate-large and a delayed-small rewards. The results indicated that the older children chose significantly more delayed-large rewards in the immediate-small vs. delayed-large choice condition, than the younger children and that the children of all age groups used both the amount and the interval differences between the two rewards as helpful cues for their choices.

Abstract

A total of children aged four, five and seven were required to make a choice between two rewards which differed in the following four conditions; (a) choice between an immediate-small and a delayed-large rewards, (b) choice between an immediate-large (small) and a delayed-large (small) rewards, (c) choice between an immediate (delayed)-large and an immediate (delayed)-small rewards, and (d) choice between an immediate-large and a delayed-small rewards. The results indicated that the older children chose significantly more delayed-large rewards in the immediate-small vs. delayed-large choice condition, than the younger children and that the children of all age groups used both the amount and the interval differences between the two rewards as helpful cues for their choices.

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