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How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

news.mit.edu

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Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#21

Post by 082349872349872 »

wait_a_minute wrote: post #9
firtoz wrote: post #4

I wonder how this changes with spirituality background - e.g. with Buddhism, stoicism and so on.

I think it changes significantly, since being spiritual is an effective way to rework and improve the inclinations that previous experiences have impressed upon a person. Although this study being focused on the reward response in 12-14 year olds is not going to be an assessment of that since the typical 12-14 year old doesn't even have a coherent comprehension of the basics of their spiritual text yet...

Obviously there is a startup market for spiritual texts that are comprehensible to the typical 12-14 year old; on these lines I would propose:

    - Party on
    - Be excellent to each other
(the typical 12-14 may retain a naive interpretation of "party" and "excellent", but despite that caveat they ought to have a reasonably coherent comprehension of the text!)

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#22

Post by 082349872349872 »

firtoz wrote: post #17
wait_a_minute wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it changes significantly, since being spiritual is an effective way to rework and improve the inclinations that previous experiences have impressed upon a person. Although this study being focused on the reward response in 12-14 year olds is not going to be an assessment of that since the typical 12-14 year old doesn't even have a coherent comprehension of the basics of their spiritual text yet...

My curiosity is from the expectation that various spiritual backgrounds (e.g. parents talking to their children about things) could allow the children to pay less importance on "worldly matters" and more on "being happy with what we have".

see also the anecdote of Diogenes and Alexander

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#23

Post by [deleted] »

romaaeterna wrote: post #5

fMRI results show that children from lower-SES backgrounds are less stimulated by monetary rewards. "The findings suggest that lower SES circumstances may prompt the brain to adapt to the environment..." Wow! How did they control for the possibility that a heritable reward-focus in the parents leads to the SES results? Or that other factors, such as higher engagement or game-competence, might have led to this result?…

[deleted]

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#24

Post by PeterisP »

romaaeterna wrote: post #5

fMRI results show that children from lower-SES backgrounds are less stimulated by monetary rewards. "The findings suggest that lower SES circumstances may prompt the brain to adapt to the environment..." Wow! How did they control for the possibility that a heritable reward-focus in the parents leads to the SES results? Or that other factors, such as higher engagement or game-competence, might have led to this result?…

They obviously didn't, and didn't need to - that sentence is not making any assertion, it is suggesting a hypothesis that can be tested in future work by them or others. The sole assertion this study is making is about the existence of the effect, and it is only speculating (and not hiding that it's speculating) about a possible mechanism causing that effect.

And obviously further details relating to this observation aren't already tested and published, it would take at least a few months for that to happen - if someone had already done and published a follow-up analysis, this article wouldn't be news but be outdated already.

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#25

Post by santoshalper »

solardev wrote: post #2

This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing! I wonder if this has implications about the sense of agency people from different backgrounds feel (or not) in their lives.

Quite the opposite, people who have grown up in rewarding environments tend to be more "ambitious" (my word, not theirs) because they have been conditioned to believe that ambition is rewarded.

On the other hand, people who have grown up in poverty have been conditioned to believe that excellence doesn't really matter since there are few or no rewards to be had. Keep in mind, this is well below the level of conscious thought - it's a biological response.

Once you remember that humans are animals and are conditioned by their environment the same way animals are, stimulus and response, everything about our modern civilization makes total sense.

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#26

Post by baronswindle »

gumby wrote: post #16

This is counter to how I would have guessed, which makes it quite interesting! To those complaining that the results are non-determinative (e.g. “they didn’t disentangle genetics from social issues”) that’s how science works: do some studies, make or evaluate a hypothesis, then you or others iterate on different dimensions, possibly untangling some variables or even refuting the results of such a study. It’s OK to be…

To be clear, I wasn’t complaining. I was asking a question.

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#28

Post by anonymouskimmer »

jdksmdbtbdnmsm wrote: post #3

[flagged]

OTOH, also proof that they'll keep slogging on at the same pace even if rewards are less forthcoming. Whereas higher SES people will bail or slack off.

From this generalization: It's worth having some raised-low-SES people on your team as they'll be the ones you want to keep when layoffs are happening.

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#29

Post by narag »

Disclaimer: I'm not a native English speaker, but that's not what I believe "reward" means.

When guessing, you're not making any effort, it's just random, nothing to do with "agency" or behaviour. It's just a lottery and the result is just logical: in the house of the poor, happiness is short-lived.

Re: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background

#30

Post by almostnormal »

A dollar is not a dollar. A dollar is something different for kids than it is for their parents. A dollar for a kid of rich patents is not the same as a dollar for a kid of poorer parents.

Poorer parents likely try to keep worries about money as far from their kids as they can, even if not easy. Rich parents might casually discuss investment ideas at a common dinner.

As a result a dollar may be seen much more as a reward by kids of rich parents than by kids of poor parents.

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