Szuhany Kristin L, MacKenzie Danny, Otto Michael W
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 648 Beacon St., 5th Floor, Boston, MA, 02215, United States.
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 648 Beacon St., 5th Floor, Boston, MA, 02215, United States.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2018 Sep;60:37-41. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.03.001. Epub 2018 Mar 7.
The impaired ability to delay rewards, delay discounting (DD), is associated with several problematic conditions in which impulsive decision-making derails long-term goals. Working memory (WM), the ability to actively store and manipulate information, is associated with DD. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cognitive priming on DD and to identify moderation of this effect dependent on degree of WM capacity (WMC) and depressed mood.
A WM task (n-back) was used as a cognitive prime before assessment of DD (Monetary Choice Questionnaire) and was compared to a similar prime from an inhibition task in a factorial design in 183 community participants. All participants completed a DD task and assessment of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II). Priming effects were evaluated relative to WMC of participants.
Higher WMC and lower depression scores were associated with greater relative preference for larger, delayed rewards. The effects of a WM prime were moderated by WMC; benefits of the prime were only evident for individuals with lower WMC. No effects were found for an alternative inhibition task.
Limitations included depression scores mainly in subclinical range, use of hypothetical instead of real rewards in the DD task, and no examination of the time course of effects.
This study provides support for the effectiveness of a brief WM prime in enhancing ability to delay rewards. Priming may be a useful adjunctive intervention for individuals with WM dysfunction or conditions in which impulsive decision-making may derail long-term goals.
延迟奖励能力受损，即延迟折扣（DD），与多种问题状况相关，在这些状况中，冲动决策会干扰长期目标。工作记忆（WM），即主动存储和处理信息的能力，与DD相关。本研究的目的是检验认知启动对DD的影响，并确定这种影响是否因工作记忆容量（WMC）程度和抑郁情绪而产生调节作用。
在评估DD（货币选择问卷）之前，使用一项工作记忆任务（n-back）作为认知启动，并在183名社区参与者的析因设计中，将其与一项来自抑制任务的类似启动进行比较。所有参与者都完成了一项DD任务和抑郁症状评估（贝克抑郁量表第二版）。相对于参与者的WMC评估启动效应。
较高的WMC和较低的抑郁得分与对更大、延迟奖励的更高相对偏好相关。工作记忆启动的效应受到WMC的调节；启动的益处仅在WMC较低的个体中明显。未发现替代抑制任务有效果。
局限性包括抑郁得分主要处于亚临床范围，在DD任务中使用假设性而非真实奖励，以及未考察效应的时间进程。
本研究为简短的工作记忆启动在增强延迟奖励能力方面的有效性提供了支持。启动可能是对有工作记忆功能障碍的个体或冲动决策可能干扰长期目标的状况的一种有用辅助干预措施。
