Modeling Age Differences in Risky Decision Making
Modeling Age Differences in Risky Decision Making

Author: Joshua W. Pollock

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 151

ISBN-13:

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The current study analyzed age and other potential predictors for risky decision making. Forty younger adults (19-25 years) and 40 older adults (63-86 years) made risk based decisions related to health, nutrition and finance. Variables hypothesized to influence risky decision making were measured and investigated as possible predictors across each of the domains and in total. Contrary to what was hypothesized, older adults did not make riskier decisions in any domain or in total. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that age did not account for significant variance in the risky decision making domains. Stepwise regression analyses revealed response time on the Tower of Hanoi as a predictor of risky financial decision making. Stepwise regression analyses also revealed Iowa Gambling Task scores, gender, extroversion, and errors on the Tower of Hanoi as predictors of nutritional risky decision making scores. They also revealed scores on the Iowa Gambling Task and average response time on the Tower of Hanoi to be predictors of overall risky decision making scores. Age was not a significant predictor of any of the domains of risky decision making, however moderated regression analyses revealed age-related influences on cognitive regulation components for risky financial decision making. It is hypothesized that aspects of cognitive dynamics (cognitive regulation and emotional regulation), along with age influences in the financial domain, are responsible for differences in risky decision making.

Age Differences in Risky Decision Making
Age Differences in Risky Decision Making

Author: Meagan Michelle Wood

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 79

ISBN-13:

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In the current study, we examined the effects of priming and personality on risky decision making while playing the Game of Dice Task (GDT). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three priming conditions: Risk Aversive, Risk-Seeking, or Control. In the Risk Seeking condition, a fictional character benefited from risky behavior while in the Risk Aversive condition, a fictional character benefited from exercising caution. In the GDT, participants decide how risky they wish to be on each trial. To optimize performance, one should make "safe" rather than risky choices. Although older adults self-reported being more cautious than younger adults, older adults made riskier decisions than younger adults on the GDT. However, there were no longer significant age differences on the GDT after controlling for working memory. More than likely, the aforementioned age differences were due to age-related changes in effective strategy usage, rather than age-related changes in the propensity to take risks. In addition, for young adults, certain personality traits significantly predicted risky decision making on the GDT. The findings from this study have implications for older adults' decision making in everyday situations. Older adults may make risky decisions and thereby jeopardize their financial and other resources, not because they intentionally want "to roll the dice," but because of an inability to strategize and fully comprehend the consequences of their decisions.

Age Differences in Risky Decision Making
Age Differences in Risky Decision Making

Author: Meagan Michelle Wood

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 77

ISBN-13:

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In the current study, I examined the effects of age, explicitness of instructional materials, and personality differences on risky decision making while playing the Game of Dice Task (GDT). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two instruction conditions: Explicit vs. Standard. In the explicit condition, the instructions were very straightforward, with respect to risk, while the instructions in the standard condition were not. To describe this game in more detail, in the GDT, participants decide how risky they wish to be on each trial. To optimize performance, participants should make "safe" rather than risky choices. Overall, older adults were riskier than younger adults on the GDT even though they self-report being more risk averse than younger adults in several different risk domains except for social. In regards to the instruction condition, there were no significant age differences in the standard condition. Younger and older adults perform similarly. However, there were age differences in the explicit condition. Older adults were riskier in the explicit condition than younger adults were. In addition, a 3-way interaction between age, instruction, and conscientiousness was discovered. Older adults who are low in conscientiousness perform similar to regular older adults in the standard and explicit conditions. However, the effect of instruction condition disappears for those who are high in conscientiousness.

Aging and Decision Making
Aging and Decision Making

Author: Thomas M. Hess

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2015-02-17

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 0124171559

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Decisions large and small play a fundamental role in shaping life course trajectories of health and well-being: decisions draw upon an individual's capacity for self-regulation and self-control, their ability to keep long-term goals in mind, and their willingness to place appropriate value on their future well-being. Aging and Decision Making addresses the specific cognitive and affective processes that account for age-related changes in decision making, targeting interventions to compensate for vulnerabilities and leverage strengths in the aging individual. This book focuses on four dominant approaches that characterize the current state of decision-making science and aging - neuroscience, behavioral mechanisms, competence models, and applied perspectives. Underscoring that choice is a ubiquitous component of everyday functioning, Aging and Decision Making examines the implications of how we invest our limited social, temporal, psychological, financial, and physical resources, and lays essential groundwork for the design of decision supportive interventions for adaptive aging that take into account individual capacities and context variables. Divided into four dominant approaches that characterize the current state of decision-making science and aging neuroscience Explores the impact of aging on the linkages between cortical structures/functions and the behavioral indices of decision-making Examines the themes associated with behavioral approaches that attempt integrations of methods, models, and theories of general decision-making with those derived from the study of aging Details the changes in underlying competencies in later life and the two prevailing themes that have emerged—one, the general individual differences perspective, and two, a more clinical focus

When I'm 64
When I'm 64

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-02-13

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0309164915

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By 2030 there will be about 70 million people in the United States who are older than 64. Approximately 26 percent of these will be racial and ethnic minorities. Overall, the older population will be more diverse and better educated than their earlier cohorts. The range of late-life outcomes is very dramatic with old age being a significantly different experience for financially secure and well-educated people than for poor and uneducated people. The early mission of behavioral science research focused on identifying problems of older adults, such as isolation, caregiving, and dementia. Today, the field of gerontology is more interdisciplinary. When I'm 64 examines how individual and social behavior play a role in understanding diverse outcomes in old age. It also explores the implications of an aging workforce on the economy. The book recommends that the National Institute on Aging focus its research support in social, personality, and life-span psychology in four areas: motivation and behavioral change; socioemotional influences on decision-making; the influence of social engagement on cognition; and the effects of stereotypes on self and others. When I'm 64 is a useful resource for policymakers, researchers and medical professionals.

The Development of Judgment and Decision Making in Children and Adolescents
The Development of Judgment and Decision Making in Children and Adolescents

Author: Janis E. Jacobs

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2006-04-21

Total Pages: 379

ISBN-13: 1135633525

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In recent years, newspaper articles, television specials, and other media events have focused on the numerous hard decisions faced by today's youth, often pointing to teen pregnancy, drug use, and delinquency as evidence of faulty judgment. Over the past 10 years, many groups - including parents, educators, policymakers, and researchers - have become concerned about the decision-making abilities of children and adolescents, asking why they make risky choices, how they can be taught to be better decision makers, and what types of age-related changes occur in decision making. This book serves as a starting point for those interested in considering new ways of thinking about the development of these issues. The purpose is to bring together the voices of several authors who are conducting cutting-edge research and developing new theoretical perspectives related to the development of judgment and decision making. The Development of Judgment and Decision Making in Children and Adolescents is divided into three parts: Part I presents three distinctive developmental models that offer different explanations of "what develops" and the relative importance of different cognitive components and experiential components that may be important for developing judgment and decision making skills. Part II emphasizes the emotional, cultural, and social aspects of decision making--three topics that have been influential in the adult literature on judgment and decision making but are just beginning to be explored in the developmental area. Part III provides three examples of research that applies developmental and decision making models to practical research questions. This book is intended for the professional market or for graduate courses on decision making or cognitive or social development.

The Neuroscience of Risky Decision Making
The Neuroscience of Risky Decision Making

Author: Valerie F. Reyna

Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)

Published: 2014-01-01

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9781433816628

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Whether the decision is to have unprotected sex, consent to surgery, have an extra piece of pie, or spend rather than save for retirement, risky decisions permeate our lives, and sometimes with disastrous consequences. How and why risk taking occurs has important implications. Yet many questions remain about how neurobiological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors influence decision-making. This book advances basic understanding and scientific theory about the brain mechanisms underlying risky decision by integrating findings from a number of disciplines, including development and cognitive psychology, brain sciences, law, behavioral economic, and addiction. The result is a rich scientific framework for understanding the causal mechanisms of risky decision making across the lifespan. Book jacket.

Age Differences in Risky Choice
Age Differences in Risky Choice

Author: Rui Mata

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13:

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Does risk taking change as a function of age? We conducted a systematic literature search and found 29 comparisons between younger and older adults on behavioral tasks thought to measure risk taking (N = 4,093). The reports relied on various tasks differing in several respects, such as the amount of learning required or the choice framing (gains vs. losses). The results suggest that age-related differences vary considerably as a function of task characteristics, in particular the learning requirements of the task. In decisions from experience, age-related differences in risk taking were a function of decreased learning performance: older adults were more risk seeking compared to younger adults when learning led to risk-avoidant behavior, but were more risk averse when learning led to risk-seeking behavior. In decisions from description, younger adults and older adults showed similar risk-taking behavior for the majority of the tasks, and there were no clear age-related differences as a function of gain/loss framing. We discuss limitations and strengths of past research and provide suggestions for future work on age-related differences in risk taking.