title: Adult-like neuroelectrical response to inequity in children: Evidence from the ultimatum game.
abstract: People react aversely when faced with unfair situations, a phenomenon that has been related to an electroencephalographic (EEG) potential known as medial frontal negativity (MFN). To our knowledge, the existence of the MFN in children has not yet been demonstrated. Here, we recorded EEG activity from 15 children playing the ultimatum game (UG) and who afterward performed a recognition task, in order to assess whether they could recognize the unfair and fair (familiar) proposers among unfamiliar faces. During the recognition task, we also acquired pupil dilation data to investigate subconscious recognition processes. A typical (adult-like) MFN component was detected in reaction to unfair proposals. We found a positive correlation between reaction time and empathy, as well as a negative correlation between reaction time and systematic reasoning scores. Finally, we detected a significant difference in pupil dilation in response to unfamiliar faces versus UG proposers. Our data provide the first evidence of MFN in children, which appears to index similar neurophysiological phenomena as in adults. Also, reaction time to fair proposals seems to be related to individual traits, as represented by empathy and systematizing. Our pupil dilation data provide evidence that automatic responses to faces did not index fairness, but familiarity. These findings have implications for our understanding of social development in typically developing children.
authors.affiliation: a Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences , Mackenzie Presbyterian University , Sao Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriel Gaudencio
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Rêgo
authors.affiliation: a Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences , Mackenzie Presbyterian University , Sao Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Camila
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campanhã
authors.affiliation: a Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences , Mackenzie Presbyterian University , Sao Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Kassab
authors.affiliation: a Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences , Mackenzie Presbyterian University , Sao Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Ruth Lyra
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.affiliation: b U.O. Direzione Scientifica , Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta , Milan , Italy.
authors.forename: Ludovico
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minati
authors.affiliation: a Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences , Mackenzie Presbyterian University , Sao Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo Sérgio
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Boggio
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004645:Empathy; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D014888:Wechsler Scales
keywords: Cheater detection theory; Children; Face recognition; Inequity aversion; Medial frontal negativity; Ultimatum game