Lonneke Elzinga

Lonneke completed the Research Master’s Psychology program at the University of Amsterdam, where she specialized in brain & cognition and developmental psychology. As a part of WP1 Rotterdam within the GUTS consortium, she explores the mechanisms and development of prosocial behavior, the influence of moderating factors such as socioeconomic background and the influence of these moderating factors on the developmental trajectories. To answer these questions, she employs a vicarious reward task in the fMRI scanner during which participants choose one of two cups and which results in a reward or a cost. The behavioral prosocial effort-based decision-making task asks participants to choose to rest for a low reward or exert effort for a higher reward for themselves or others. These tasks allow us to relate neural reward representations for self and others to prosocial behavior in the effort task. She aims to illuminate the circumstances under which individuals help others and to illuminate the processes driving such prosocial behaviors.

Her (co)promotors are Eveline Crone, Anna van Duijvenvoorde and Nienke van Atteveldt.

Photo: Alexander Santos Lima