Testing a Shortened Version of the AlAn's Game

University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Psychopathic Personality Trait

Treatments: Other: Arm 1 - Elevation Stimulus Video; Other: Arm 2 - Control Stimulus Video

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03834467

17-0182

Details and patient eligibility

About

It has been demonstrated that behavior on the AlAn's (altruism-antisocial) game is related to Moral Elevation response. Moral Elevation is a positive response to another's act of generosity "of charity, gratitude, fidelity, generosity or any other strong display of virtue". The constellation of emotional, physical and psychological aspects of a Moral Elevation response have been well described. Moral Elevation can be elicited with stimulus stories or videos and measured with self-report questionnaires. The experience of Moral Elevation is associated with subsequent prosocial and affiliative behaviors. Additionally, the research has linked Moral Elevation response with behavior on the AlAn's game. This study will test whether behavior on the AlAn's Short Game v.2 is related to Moral Elevation response and extend prior work by testing whether viewing the Moral Elevation stimulus prior to playing the AlAn's Short Game v.2 is associated with differences in game behavior. The study will also test whether psychopathic traits will correlate with game behavior.

Full description

Hypotheses and Specific Aims:

Aim 1: Examine the similarities and differences in behaviors on the AlAn's Short Game v.2 seen with the two Active Trial (AT) types (where Red Cross donation will be reduced and subject will gain money (AT1) vs. where the Red Cross donation will increase and study participants will lose money (AT2).

Hypothesis 1: Number of accepted trials of AT1 and AT2 from session 1 will significantly correlate.

Aim 2: Test the effects of Elevation vs. Nature video on change in AlAn's Short Game v.2 behavior between sessions 1 and 2.

Hypothesis 2: Subjects who view the Elevation stimulus video (study Arm 1) will show increases in prosocial behavior while those watching the Nature video will not.

Aim 3: Test the association between psychopathic traits and Costly Helping and determine whether the influence of Elevation on Costly Helping dissipates with increasing levels of psychopathic traits.

Hypothesis 3: Psychopathic traits, as measured by the Levenson Self Report Psychopathy Scale, will significantly and negatively correlate with the amount of prosocial behavior in session 1.

Hypothesis 4: Using subjects from study Arm 1, change in AlAn's Short game v.2 behavior (session 2 minus session 1) will be negatively correlated with psychopathic trait scores.

Enrollment: 537 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• age 18-25 years

Exclusion criteria

• refusal to provide informed consent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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537 participants in 2 patient groups

Arm 1 - Elevation Stimulus Video

Experimental group

Description:

All subjects complete the Levenson Psychopathy Scale first. Arm 1 then presents the Moral Elevation stimulus video after playing the first AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 1). Participants will then play the AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 2) for a second time and then fill out an Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACES), Social Connectedness survey, and Demographics form.

Treatment:

Other: Arm 1 - Elevation Stimulus Video

Arm 2 - Control Stimulus Video

Sham Comparator group

Description:

All subjects complete the Levenson Psychopathy Scale first. Arm 2 then presents the control stimulus (nature video) after playing the first AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 1). Participants will then play the AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 2) for a second time and then fill out an Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACES), Social Connectedness survey, and Demographics form.

Treatment:

Other: Arm 2 - Control Stimulus Video