Positive Feedback vs. No-Feedback Games for Behavioral Change
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 已完成
- 发起方
- Bard College
- 入组人数
- 171
- 试验地点
- 2
- 主要终点
- Motivation to change
研究概览
简要总结
We aim to investigate here whether we can develop a reinforcement learning game which provides game-based feedback to encourage positive actions (behaviors) both inside and outside of the game. Does providing positive reward when participants make decisions which are associated with value-based actions (like those in BA) result in different game decisions? We propose that it will increase positive actions in the game. And, secondly, how does it affect short-term behavior (in one week)? We propose that it will increase pro-health activities and may reduce depressive symptoms.
详细描述
We know that behavior influences mood -- our best interventions to improve mood rely upon the relationship between these. Treatments like this are thought to work in part by helping individuals to increase value-derived behaviors; participants are given guidance which results in an increase of positive behaviors and a decrease of coping behaviors that don't help -- that is, their health-seeking behavior is reinforced while behaviors that diminish health are reduced. In past work, we showed that a text-based game could be used to explore what sort of decisions people would make in certain environments. That game showed associations between in-game behaviors and real-life depressive symptoms and actions. Such work focuses on low-level symptoms of depression -- increasingly common, especially after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. We aim to investigate here whether we can develop a reinforcement learning game which provides game-based feedback to encourage positive actions (behaviors) both inside and outside of the game.
Thus, the experiment described below and proposed in this application would test the role of positive rewards (positive-feedback) in a dichotomous-choice game, compared to neutral (no-feedback).
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Treatment
- 盲法
- Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
盲法说明
The intervention occurs entirely online. All assessment occurs via survey software. Participants do not interact with other participants and are not fully informed of the nature of the intervention and thus do not know if they are in an active condition.
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 34 Years（Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •18-34 years old
- •Fluent in English
- •Based in the United States
排除标准
- 未提供
研究组 & 干预措施
positive feedback
Participants receive positive feedback and reward for their decisions taken during a small game similar to a normal person's life. For example, they are encouraged to exercise, make food, and interact with friends.
干预措施: positive feedback (Behavioral)
no feedback
Participants receive no feedback. While they may undertake the same decisions during a small game similar to a normal person's life, they receive no encouragement and are not given reward or positive feedback.
结局指标
主要结局
Motivation to change
时间窗: baseline (T0) - after intervention
A 7-point item, "It is important to me to do more positive activities in my life". Scores range from 0 \[not at all\] to 6 \[very much\]. Higher scores indicate more motivation to change.
Depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-8 item)
时间窗: one week following intervention (T1)
8 items rated in a self-report questionnaire. Scores range from 0 to 24 with higher scores indicating more depression symptoms.
Behavior in study-specific game
时间窗: baseline (T0)
For both conditions, behavior and choices made during the game will be used as data for analyses. Game choices allow participants to decide what next activities they will "do" in the game. Analyses incorporate decision probabilities (which of 2 choices are selected) and compare them between conditions. The game is completed at baseline following assessment.
Day Reconstruction Method (DRM)
时间窗: one week following intervention (T1)
The DRM measures how people spend their time and asks them how they felt while doing the activities they report. Ratings on a Likert scale indicate valence (how pleasant/unpleasant the activities were) and range from 0 (not at all) to 6 (very much), with higher pleasantness being better (and lower unpleasantness being better).
Depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-8 item)
时间窗: baseline (T0) - before intervention
8 items rated in a self-report questionnaire. Scores range from 0 to 24 with higher scores indicating more depression symptoms.
Day Reconstruction Method (DRM)
时间窗: baseline (T0) - before intervention
The DRM measures how people spend their time and asks them how they felt while doing the activities they report. Ratings on a Likert scale indicate valence (how pleasant/unpleasant the activities were) and range from 0 (not at all) to 6 (very much), with higher pleasantness being better (and lower unpleasantness being better).
次要结局
- Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ)(baseline (T0) - before intervention)
- Mood Ratings(one week following intervention (T1))
- Mood Ratings(baseline (T0) - before intervention)
研究者
Justin Dainer-Best
Associate Professor of Psychology
Bard College