TY - JOUR PY - 2012// TI - Victims' time discounting 2.5 years after the Wenchuan earthquake: an ERP study JO - PLoS one A1 - Li, Jin-Zhen A1 - Gui, Dan-Yang A1 - Feng, Chun-Liang A1 - Wang, Wen-Zhong A1 - Du, Bo-Qi A1 - Gan, Tian A1 - Luo, Yue-Jia SP - e40316 EP - e40316 VL - 7 IS - 7 N2 - BACKGROUND: Time discounting refers to the fact that the subjective value of a reward decreases as the delay until its occurrence increases. The present study investigated how time discounting has been affected in survivors of the magnitude-8.0 Wenchuan earthquake that occurred in China in 2008. METHODOLOGY: Nineteen earthquake survivors and 22 controls, all school teachers, participated in the study. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) for time discounting tasks involving gains and losses were acquired in both the victims and controls. FINDINGS: The behavioral data replicated our previous findings that delayed gains were discounted more steeply after a disaster. ERP results revealed that the P200 and P300 amplitudes were increased in earthquake survivors. There was a significant group (earthquake vs. non- earthquake) × task (gain vs. loss) interaction for the N300 amplitude, with a marginally significantly reduced N300 for gain tasks in the experimental group, which may suggest a deficiency in inhibitory control for gains among victims. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that post-disaster decisions might involve more emotional (System 1) and less rational thinking (System 2) in terms of a dual-process model of decision making. The implications for post-disaster intervention and management are also discussed.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1932-6203 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040316 ID - ref1 ER -