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Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Development

Video Exercises

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Does pleasure get old?

They say youth is wasted on the young, but when it comes to pleasure chemicals in our brains, the opposite may be true. A study released today shows that there is a drastic change in how our brains respond to pleasure and reward as we age.

Interviewee: Karen Berman, National Institute of Mental Health.

Copyright © ScienCentral, Inc. Additional footage courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Dr. Karen Berman and her colleagues had young (mean age = 25) and older (mean age = 66) participants play a slot machine type game as their brains were scanned. The researchers varied the amount of the possible reward (from $0 to $20) and the probability of success (from no chance to a 75% probability).

1.
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This study used two kinds of brain imaging. What were they and what was each used to measure?
2.
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Both young and old participants were tested. Is there anything in the video to indicate that one group or both groups should be considered abnormal? Or can we consider them representative of their age groups?
3.
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How might the brain changes discussed in the video be consistent with the changes in thinking, emotional needs, and behaviors that are part of the healthy aging process, as represented by socioemotional selectivity theory?

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