Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Self-distancing in Young Children

Summary

An experimental paradigm was created to measure the effects of self-distancing in young children (4-6-year-olds). Self-distancing is a process through which individuals adopt a less egocentric perspective. This paradigm has been used to examine the effects of self-distancing on young children's self-regulation.

Abstract

Self-distancing (i.e., creating mental distance between the self and a stimulus by adopting a less egocentric perspective) has been studied as a way to improve adolescents' and adults' emotion regulation. These studies instruct adolescents and adults to use visual imagery or language to create distance from the self before engaging in self-regulation tasks and when thinking about past and future events. For example, adults are asked to recall past, negative emotional experiences from either a first-person perspective (no distance) or a third-person perspective (self-distanced). These studies show that a self-distanced perspective allows adults to cope more adaptively when recalling negative feelings. However, the self-distancing paradigm used with adults was not developmentally appropriate for young children. This modified self-distancing paradigm involves instructing children to think about their thoughts, feelings, and actions from different perspectives that vary in their distance from the self while completing a self-regulation task. The paradigm involves randomly assigning children to use one of three perspectives: self-immersed, third-person, or exemplar. In the self-immersed condition, children are asked to think about themselves using the first-person perspective (e.g., "How am I feeling?") and no distance is created from the self. In the third-person condition, children are asked to create distance from the self by using the third-person perspective (e.g., "How is [child's name] feeling?"). In the exemplar condition, the greatest distance from the self is created by asking children to pretend to be a media character and to think about that character's thoughts and feelings (e.g., "How is Batman feeling?"). Studies using the self-distancing paradigm with 4-6-year-olds have found that as the amount of distance from the self increases (self-immersed < third-person < exemplar), children perform better on self-regulation tasks. These findings suggest that the strategies implemented in the self-distancing protocol may be useful to include in self-regulation interventions for young children.

Introduction

Self-regulation is the ability to deliberately control one's thoughts, actions, and emotions. Self-regulation involves the interaction between "reactive" and "deliberate" processes and is a general concept that includes several different types of skills such as emotion regulation, executive function, perseverance, and effortful control (i.e., parent-reported temperament measure of self-regulation)¹. Several studies have found that self-regulation is associated with and predictive of many important cognitive and social outcomes^2,3. Additionally, early self-regulation skills have been found to be predictive of long-term wealth and health outcomes⁴. This previous research highlights the importance of intervening early to improve young children's self-regulation skills for more positive life outcomes later.

One strategy for improving young children's self-regulation is self-distancing. Self-distancing refers to creating mental distance between the self and a stimulus by having individuals think about their thoughts, feelings, or actions from an outsider's perspective⁵. Self-distancing is one form of psychological distancing. Psychological distancing refers to creating mental distance between a stimulus and response. This distance allows individuals to reflect and demonstrate greater control of their emotions, actions, and thoughts^6,7. Most of the previous research on psychological distancing with children has focused on creating distance by transforming the task stimuli. For example, having children think about treats in an abstract way such as imagining that marshmallows are clouds during a delay of gratification task⁸ or replacing actual treats with symbols (e.g., a pile of rocks to represent a pile of jelly beans) during a reverse- contingency task^9,10 promotes better performance. However, a few studies have created psychological distance in other ways such as by having children make decisions for another person instead of for themselves¹¹ or thinking about an individual who would perform well on the task, like Superman¹². These studies also showed benefits of psychological distancing for children's ability to delay gratification^11,12.

While self-distancing seems like another promising way to improve different aspects of children's self-regulation, the majority of the research on self-distancing has been conducted with adults. Self-distancing has been studied with adults mainly in the domain of emotion regulation. In these studies, adults are asked to use visual imagery or language to create distance from the self¹³. For example, they are instructed to recall a past event that evokes negative emotions by visualizing it either through their own eyes (non-distanced) or from an outsider's perspective or as if they were "a fly on the wall" (self-distanced)^13,14,15. In other studies, adults are asked to use first-person (non-distanced) or third-person speech (self-distanced) while thinking about past negative emotions^{16,17,18,19,20,21}. These studies suggest that taking a distanced perspective helps adults focus on why they are feeling what they are feeling instead of focusing on the negative emotions themselves and results in better coping when recalling these past negative emotions^{13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21}.

Recently, a self-distancing paradigm for children was created by modifying the self-distancing conditions used in the adult literature to be developmentally appropriate for young children²² and creating an additional self-distancing condition based on children's love for role-play²³. The self-immersed condition was adopted from the adult literature and is meant to elicit an exaggerated egocentric or first-person perspective. Theoretically, the self-immersed condition should be more detrimental to children's performance than a control condition in which children are not given any distancing instructions. In the control condition, children may take on a first-person perspective by default, but they are not as immersed in this perspective as children in the self-immersed condition. In both the self-immersed and control conditions, participants should not be creating distance from the self. The third-person condition creates some distance from the self by asking children to think about themselves using their own name. This condition allows children to think about their own thoughts, feelings, and actions from a distanced perspective. Finally, an additional condition called the exemplar condition was created by looking at past research with children on role-play such as a study by Karniol and colleagues¹² in which children were asked to pretend to be Superman during a delay of gratification task. In the exemplar condition, children are instructed to take the perspective of another person by pretending to be a media character. Having children pretend to be someone else creates even more distance from the self than the third-person condition since it asks children to think as if they were someone else with different thoughts, feelings, and skills. It also allows children to use their love for role-play, which peaks in early childhood²³. During the target task, children are given either verbal or visual (e.g., stickers, costumes) reminders of their self-distancing condition. Allowing children to use the different self-distancing strategies while performing self-regulation tasks avoids children having to retrospectively remember situations in which they needed to exert self-regulation. While the adult literature allows researchers to study the difference between taking a non-distanced and distanced perspective, this child self-distancing paradigm allows children to take on a broader range of distances from the self (self-immersed, third-person, and exemplar) and allows researchers to test the effectiveness of these varying amounts of distance from the self on children's self-regulation.

In this article, we describe the self-distancing paradigm in detail, including the materials needed and the procedure for using this paradigm with young children. Additionally, we discuss results from studies that have used the self-distancing paradigm to examine its effects on young children's (3-6-year-olds) self-regulation. Finally, we discuss ways that the self-distancing paradigm can be used in future research, potential modifications to the paradigm, and implications for using it.

The target task that children complete while using the self-distancing instructions varies depending on the focus of the study. The following protocol demonstrates how the self-distancing paradigm can be used during a perseverance task²⁴. However, the self-distancing paradigm can be applied to a number of behavioral tasks that involve effort on the part of the child. The task must be sufficiently challenging so that not all children will succeed even without the task manipulation, and yet not too far beyond their developmental level such that they cannot understand the instructions or perform the task under any circumstances. The following illustration of the self-distancing paradigm was used with typically developing 4- and 6-year-olds²⁴.

Protocol

All methods described here were approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Minnesota and complied with guidelines for research with human subjects. Written informed consent was obtained from a parent or guardian of the child participants, and verbal assent was obtained from children given they were too young to provide written consent.

1. Procedure

1. Randomly assign 4-6-year-old children to one of three experimental conditions: self-immersed, third-person, or exemplar.
   NOTE: It is optional to include a control group that receives no special modifications to the standard task instructions.
2. Obtain written informed consent from a parent or guardian of the child participant.
3. Build rapport with and obtain verbal assent from child participants. See Supplementary File 1: Appendix A for an example of an assent script that can be used by the experimenter.
4. Introduce the target task to the child.
   NOTE: The target task will vary depending on the study's focus.
   1. Introduce the distracting task. Show a tablet computer (e.g., iPad) to the child and say, "Okay, I am going to show you a game on this before we start our work."
   2. Ask the child, "Have you ever played on an iPad before?" to get a sense of the child's experience with iPads or touchscreens.
   3. Open up the "Where's My Water" app on the device to the second level and let the introduction play.
      NOTE: "Where's My Water" is only one example of an app that could be used for the perseverance task described. The app used should be simple enough for children in the study's age range to understand and be a game they would be tempted to play.
   4. Say, "This is the game. Have you ever played Where's My Water before?" Wait for child's response and then say, "In this game, you want to get the water into the pipes so the alligator can take his shower. To get the water to him, you have to move the dirt out of the way. See how moving my finger on the screen digs through the dirt?" Drag finger through dirt but only a little (not enough to complete the level).
   5. Say, "Sometimes there will be rocks in the way, like this" and point to the rock on the screen. Then say, "Then you have to move the dirt around the rock, like this" and demonstrate how to move dirt around the rock.
   6. Say, "After the dirt is out of the way, the water can flow to the pipes. I want the water to go to this pipe, so I am going to move my finger like this" and drag finger the rest of the way so that the water flows to the pipe. Watch the animation then restart the level by pressing the circle arrow.
   7. Say, "Did you see how I got the water to the pipe? Now you try." Let the child try the level.
      1. If the child completes the level, say, "Good job! You got the water to the alligator."
      2. If the child does not complete the level, say, "Good job, let's try again. Try moving the dirt out of the way so that it gets to the pipe. Demonstrate the game again and let the child try again. Continue this process until the child is able to complete the level or they have tried 6 times.
   8. Say, "Good. Once you finish, you'll see these buttons" and show buttons on the screen (if the child completed level) or on the script page (if the child did not complete the level). Then say, "If you want to play this level again, you can press the left button" and point to the left button that says "Replay."
      1. Then say, "If you want to play the next level, press this button (point to the right button that says "Next") and you'll get a new screen." Finally, say, "If you accidently press this button (press the middle button that says "Levels" so the game goes to the "box screen"), just pick a new box to play."
   9. Ask the child, "Do you have any questions about this game?" Wait for the child to respond and then answer any questions that he or she has about the game.
   10. Say, "Great! That's the game you will get to play later."
   11. Open the "Where's My Water" app to the first level on the device so that it is ready to play when the child chooses to. Place the device next to the computer so that it is easily accessible to the child while they are sitting at the computer.
       NOTE: Make sure screen saver is set to 'never'.
   12. Introduce the work task to the child. Say, "Now, I'm going to show you the work that we're going to do today. It would be helpful if you worked hard on this. This is a very important activity and it would be helpful if you worked hard on this for as long as you could. The reason I want you to do this activity is because you would be a good helper."
   13. Ask the child a rule check question to make sure the child understands why the experimenter wants them to play the game. Say, "Can you tell me why I want you to do this activity?
       1. If the child responds incorrectly (i.e., does not say "to be a good helper" or something similar) or does not respond, say, "Oops! Remember, I want you to do this activity because you would be a good helper. So, why do I want you to do this activity?" Move on to the next step after the second try and correction.
   14. Say, "Now, I'll show you how this activity works." Start the computer program, select the child's condition using the arrow keys, and then press the space bar twice to continue.
   15. Place a cardboard overlay on the keyboard to cover all non-relevant keys for the task (i.e., all keys but the space bar and the enter key).
   16. Say, "The goal of this activity is for you to feed pieces of cheese to a mouse. Whenever you see a picture of cheese on the computer screen you can feed the mouse by pressing the space bar" and then point to the space bar.
   17. Say, "But, sometimes there won't be cheese, and instead a cat may appear! Whenever you see a picture of a cat, make sure you do NOT press the space bar."
   18. Press the space bar twice to start the rule check phase.
       1. Ask the child, "What will you do when you see a picture of a piece of cheese on the computer screen?"
       2. If the child responds incorrectly (i.e., doesn't say "press the button" or something similar), say, "Oops! Remember, when you see the cheese you press this button" and point to the space bar. Then say, "So, if you see the cheese, what do you do?" Move on to the next step after the second try and correction.
       3. Say, "What will you do if you see a picture of a cat?"
       4. If the child responds incorrectly (i.e., does not say "nothing" or something similar), say "Oops, remember when you see the cat you do nothing. So, when you see the cat what do you do?" Move on to the next step after the second try and correction.
   19. Say, "Great job! Let's practice" and then press the space bar twice to begin the practice trials (4 trials with feedback). Then say, "When you see the cross on the screen, just look at it."
       1. After the first practice trial runs, read the feedback on the screen, and press the space bar twice to continue. Continue running the rest of the practice trials and reading the feedback on the screen.
   20. Say "Good job! You are ready to start the real activity!" and press the space bar twice to start the activity. Allow the child to work on the work task for 1 min.
   21. Say, "Great.You did a good job! Remember, it would be helpful if you worked hard on this for as long as you could. But, this activity can get pretty boring. So, when you want, if you want, you can take a break by pressing this button. It's your choice." Then place the break button overlay (sticker with picture of the game) on the keyboard.
   22. Demonstrate how children can take a break. Say, "And then you can switch and play this game (motion to the tablet computer [e.g., iPad]) like this." Then demonstrate moving over to the tablet and starting the game.
   23. Say, "Then, when you're done taking a break you can come back to the activity and press this button again like this." Point to the break button on the keyboard before pressing the break button.
   24. Ask the child a rule check question to make sure they know how to take a break. Say, "Now, what do you do when you want to take a break?"
       1. If the child responds incorrectly (i.e., does not say "press the break key" or something similar), say, "Remember, you press this button when you want to take a break" and point to the break key. Then say, "So, what do you do if you want to take a break?" Move on to the next step after the second try and correction.
   25. Ask the child a rule check question to make sure they understand what to do when they want to end a break. Say, "And what do you do when you're done taking a break?"
       1. If the child responds incorrectly (i.e., does not say "press the break key" or something similar), say, "Remember, you press this button when you're done taking a break" and point to the break key. Then say, "So, what do you do if you're done taking a break?" Move on to the next step after the second try and correction.
5. Introduce a self-distancing strategy based on the condition that children were randomly assigned to (self-immersed, third-person, or exemplar condition) by saying, "Before we get started, I'd like to tell you about something that you can do during this activity."
   NOTE: The following example is for a child randomly assigned to the exemplar condition. Follow the scripts in Supplementary File 1: Appendix B based on the child's assigned self-distancing condition.
   1. Say, "It would be helpful if you worked hard on this. This is a very important activity and it would be helpful if you worked hard on this for as long as you could. You would be a good helper if you worked on this activity for as long as you can, but it can be boring sometimes. Some kids like to pretend that they're somebody else who would be a really hard worker on this activity, when it gets boring. That's what I'd like you to do today."
   2. Show the child a laminated sheet of paper with pictures of four characters that are familiar and popular in the participating children's culture and age range and say, "Which one of these characters would you like to [pretend to] be for this activity?"
      NOTE: In past studies with 4-6-year-olds from the United States, Batman, Superman, Bob the Builder, Rapunzel, Elsa (Frozen), and Dora the Explorer have been used.
   3. After the child chooses a character, say, "Okay, to help you pretend you get to wear this." Then give the child the prop associated with their chosen character, so they can wear it.
      NOTE: Some examples of props used in past studies include a cape for Batman, a tool belt for Bob the Builder, a tiara for Rapunzel, and a backpack for Dora the Explorer.
   4. Say, "So, if you get bored at any point during this task, ask yourself, "Is [character's name] working hard?"
      NOTE: The phrase "Is [character's name] working hard" can be modified based on the nature of the target task. For example, in an emotion regulation task, "How is [character's name] feeling?" could be used.
   5. Tell the child about reminders to help them remember their self-distancing condition. Say, "You're going to hear reminders to help you remember. The computer will say, "Is [character's name] working hard?" to help you remember to ask yourself, "Is [character's name] working hard?" This sticker will help you remember too." Place a sticker of the child's chosen character on the computer used for the work task. Then say, "When you see the sticker, remember to ask, "Is [character's name] working hard?""
   6. Make sure the child can repeat their self-distancing prompt. Say, "Now you try it. Say, "Is [character's name] working hard?""Continue to ask the child to say this prompt until they are successfully able to do so.
   7. Say, "So remember, while you are working on this activity, I just want you to think whether [character's name] is working hard."
6. After the child's assigned self-distancing strategy has been explained, say," Okay, I'm going to be in the corner doing some work. Do you have any questions now, before we start?" Wait for child to respond and answer any questions.
7. Say, "It would be helpful if you worked hard on this for as long as you could. Remember, if you see the cheese, you press this button (point to space bar) and if you see the cat you don't press any button. If you want to take a break press this button (point to break button). Make sure you stay in your seat while you're on the computer or playing the game." Then say, "Okay, go ahead and start the activity" and point to the computer.
8. Sit in the corner of the room with back turned to the child and look busy doing work. Let the child work on the task for 10 min.
   NOTE: Make sure the child starts with the computer activity.
9. After the task is over, ask the children questions about the task and their use of their assigned self-distancing strategy (See Supplementary File 1: Appendix C).
   NOTE: The questions included in Appendix C are specific to the perseverance task example described in this protocol. The questions asked after the target task should be modified to be relevant to the target task being used and can serve as a manipulation check to make sure that the children remembered their distancing strategy, to determine whether they were using that strategy, and to get information about their motivation and thoughts about the target task itself.

Results

Overall effectiveness of self-distancing
The self-distancing paradigm has been used in several studies focusing on young children's self-regulation including executive function skills, perseverance, and emotion regulation. To determine the effectiveness of self-distancing, children's performance on the target task is compared across the different self-distancing conditions (self-immersed, third-person, and exemplar). Studies with children between the ages of...

Discussion

The child self-distancing paradigm described herein is important because it is developmentally appropriate and capitalizes on young children's love for role-play²³. Previous research shows that this method can be successfully implemented with children between 4 and 6 years of age and that children who create the most theoretical distance from the self by pretending to be a popular media character show better performance on self-regulation tasks than children who use the first-person perspectiv...

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Child-sized table
2 Child-sized chairs (one for child and one for experimenter)
Camera to record children working on the task for coding their behaviors later
A laminated sheet of paper with pictures of four media characters that are popular with children of the study’s age range in their specific culture			In past studies, Batman, Superman, Bob the Builder, Rapunzel, Elsa (Frozen), and Dora the Explorer have been used.
Props associated with each media character that children can wear while working on the target task			For example, a cape for Batman, a tool belt for Bob the Builder, a tiara for Rapunzel, and a backpack for Dora the Explorer.
Laptop/computer to play audio reminders if audio reminders are used			These recordings should say the following for each condition every 60 seconds: Self-immersed: "Am I working hard?" Third- person: "Is [child’s name] working hard?" Exemplar: " Is [media character’s name] working hard?" This is one option for reminding children of their distancing condition. The type of reminder used will depend on the target task and if the experimenter will be present in the room during the target task.
Plain stickers to write "I" or the child's name to be used as reminders for the self-immersed and third-person condition			Stickers can be placed on the apparatus being used or on children's hands to remind them of their self-distancing strategy. These stickers would have the letter "I" for the self-immersed condition or their name spelled out for the third-person condition. This is one option for reminding children of their distancing condition. The type of reminder used will depend on the target task and if the experimenter will be present in the room during the target task.
Stickers with pictures of 4 media characters chosen for exemplar condition			Stickers with pictures of the media characters used in the study can be purchased and placed on the apparatus being or on the children's hands to remind them of their self-distancing strategy. This is one option for reminding children of their distancing condition. The type of reminder used will depend on the target task and if the experimenter will be present in the room during the target task.
Ipad or tablet with developmentally approariate and entertaining game for children in the age range being studied downloaded onto it			"Where's My Water" is one example of an app that can be used for 4-6-yea-olds. The app should be developmentally appropariate for the age range being studied and a game that children of that age want to play. This is only needed if the perseverance target task is used.
Laptop/computer with go/no-go task program described in the protocol			This is only needed if the perseverance target task is used.
Cardboard keyboard overlay to cover keys that are not needed for the go/no-go task			This is only needed if the perseverance target task is used.
Sticker illustrating iPad game to put on the "break" key on the computer keyboard			This is only needed if the perseverance target task is used.