Prosocial Cyberball Game (PCG)

In YOUth, children played the game online with three other children (computer simulations of peers of the same gender with typical Dutch names). In the first block (48 trials), all children received the ball on average every fourth throw. If the participant received the ball, they could decide who was next to receive the ball. In the second block (48 trials), one of the three peers was systematically ignored (i.e., never received the ball from the other two peers). Participants could however show empathy by compensating: when they received the ball, they might chose to throw the ball more often to the ignored player. The dependent variable is the increase in throws to the ignored player in this block relative to first block. The task lasted approximately 10 minutes (including explanation).