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Shaping Tolerance for Delayed Rewards

Feasibility of Shaping Tolerance for Delayed Rewards in Impulsive 3-6 Year Olds

Who can join

Ages 3 to 6 · All sexes

Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 3-6 years
* Hyperactivity/Impulsivity subscale scores of the ADHD Rating Scale-IV Preschool Version (children 3 to 4 years of age) or the Attention and Behavior Scale (children 5 to 6 years of age) ≥ 90th percentile from either the parent or teacher's responses
* Physically and visually able to use the tablet, as determined by pre-assessment performance
* Children taking psychotropic medication will be included, but must maintain the same medication and dose over the course of the study and for each assessment and exhibit elevated levels of impulsivity based on parent or teacher ratings while medicated.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Children with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability (by parent or teacher report or the NIH Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test).

About the study

Deficits in self-control are of major public health relevance as they contribute to several negative outcomes for both individuals and society. For children, developing self-control is a critically important step toward success in academic settings and social relationships, yet there are few non-pharmacological approaches that have been successful in increasing self-control. We found in our earlier studies that self-control can be increased in preschool-aged children with high impulsivity by using games in which they practice gradually increasing wait-time for larger, more delayed rewards. We are performing this current study to test if this training to increase self-control can be increased using mobile app technology, with computerized game time being used as a reward.

What is being tested

• Shaping Delay Tolerance (behavioral)

Sponsor: University of California, Davis · Participants: 50 · Started: Sep 12, 2017

Contact the study team

• Samantha Blair, PhD · Phone: 916-703-0325
• Shannon Hoffman, DPT · Phone: 916-703-0258

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT03457402

Locations in the U.S.

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.