Influence of Educational Stimuli From the Pé-de-Meia Program on Delay Discounting Propensity

Influence of Educational Stimuli From the Pé-de-Meia Program on Delay Discounting Propensity: A Study With the Modified Iowa Gambling Task

The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to investigate how the Stay-and-Complete School Incentive Savings, part of the Pé-de-Meia Program, affects decision-making among low-income high school students, particularly their tendency towards delay discounting. This concept describes the preference for immediate gratifications over larger future rewards. The main questions it seeks to answer are:

Can exposure to the specific educational stimuli of the Pé-de-Meia Program alter students' propensity for delay discounting? How do different levels of delay discounting influence students' decision-making regarding their studies and the utilization of the program's incentives?

Participants will:

Engage in a modified version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a computerized game that simulates decision-making under uncertainty, adapted to reflect the stimuli and choices related to the Pé-de-Meia Program.

Complete questionnaires that measure their propensity for delay discounting and gather demographic and socioeconomic information.

Researchers will compare the outcomes among groups of students exposed to different types of stimuli (aligned with the program's objectives, contrasting, and a control group without modifications) to see if the specific financial and educational incentives of the Pé-de-Meia Program influence how students value immediate rewards compared to future benefits. This study is expected to contribute to the improvement of public educational policies, encouraging school retention and promoting the educational success of low-income adolescents.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Low-income high school students in the public system, registered in CadÚnico

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students with a formal psychological or psychiatric diagnosis