scholarly journals Developmental perspectives on risky and impulsive choice

2018 ◽  
Vol 374 (1766) ◽  
pp. 20180133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail M. Rosenbaum ◽  
Catherine A. Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Impulsive Choice ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Changes In Risk ◽  
Task Parameters

Epidemiological data suggest that risk taking in the real world increases from childhood into adolescence and declines into adulthood. However, developmental patterns of behaviour in laboratory assays of risk taking and impulsive choice are inconsistent. In this article, we review a growing literature using behavioural economic approaches to understand developmental changes in risk taking and impulsivity. We present findings that have begun to elucidate both the cognitive and neural processes that contribute to risky and impulsive choice, as well as how age-related changes in these neurocognitive processes give rise to shifts in choice behaviour. We highlight how variability in task parameters can be used to identify specific aspects of decision contexts that may differentially influence risky and impulsive choice behaviour across development. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications’.

scholarly journals Conquering the inner couch potato: precommitment is an effective strategy to enhance motivation for effortful actions

2018 ◽  
Vol 374 (1766) ◽  
pp. 20180131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Studer ◽  
Carolin Koch ◽  
Stefan Knecht ◽  
Tobias Kalenscher
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Small Reward ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Impulsive Behaviour ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Regulatory Measure

Letting effort-free gratification derail us from effort-requiring goals is one reason why we fail to realize health-relevant intentions like ‘exercise regularly’. We tested the effectiveness of the self-control strategy precommitment in such effort-related conflicts, using a novel laboratory choice paradigm, where participants could precommit to an effort-requiring large reward by pre-eliminating an effort-free small reward from their choice set. Our participants used precommitment frequently and effectively, such that they reached effort-requiring large rewards more often. Using computational modelling and Bayesian model comparisons, we assessed whether participants employed precommitment to avoid anticipated willpower failures (i.e. as a self-regulatory measure) or to maximize their motivation to choose the effort-requiring option (i.e. as a self-motivational measure). Observed choices and precommitment decisions were consistent with the motivation maximization hypothesis, but not the willpower hypothesis. Our findings show that offering precommitment is effective in helping individuals optimize their motivation and choice behaviour and thereby achieve effort-requiring goals, and strongly encourage application of precommitment schemes in exercise and rehabilitation interventions. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications’.

scholarly journals Age-related differences in neural activities during risk taking as revealed by functional MRI

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatia M. C. Lee ◽  
Ada W. S. Leung ◽  
Peter T. Fox ◽  
Jia-Hong Gao ◽  
Chetwyn C. H. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Functional Mri ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Neural Activities ◽  
Age Related

Developmental Patterns of Duration Discrimination

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 842-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill L. Elfenbein ◽  
Arnold M. Small ◽  
Julia M. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Standard Stimulus ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Noise Burst ◽  
Duration Discrimination ◽  
Broadband Noise ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Perceptual Abilities

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the auditory perceptual abilities of children are characterized by an age-related improvement in duration discrimination. Forty children, ages 4 to 10 years, and 10 adults served as subjects. Difference limens were obtained using a 350-msec broadband noise burst as the standard stimulus in a three-interval forcedchoice paradigm. Data were characterized by significant differences between the performances of the 4-, 6-, and 8-year-olds and those of the adults. Acquisition of adult-like discrimination performance was demonstrated between the ages of 8 and 10 years.

scholarly journals Market shocks and professionals' investment behavior – Evidence from the COVID-19 crash

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Huber ◽  
Juergen Huber ◽  
Michael Kirchler
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Investment Behavior ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Price Expectations ◽  
Market Crashes ◽  
Changes In Risk ◽  
Risk Taking Behavior ◽  
Market Shocks

We investigate how the experience of stock market shocks, such as the COVID-19 crash, influences risk-taking behavior. To isolate changes in risk taking from other factors during stock market crashes, we ran controlled experiments with finance professionals in December 2019 and March 2020. We observe that their investments in the experiment were 12 percent lower in March 2020 than in December 2019, although their price expectations had not changed, and although they considered the experimental asset less risky during the crash than before. Thus, lower investments are driven by higher risk aversion, not by changes in beliefs.

scholarly journals Why has evolution not selected for perfect self-control?

2018 ◽  
Vol 374 (1766) ◽  
pp. 20180139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Y. Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Subjective Feeling ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Obvious Reason ◽  
Control Failures

Self-control refers to the ability to deliberately reject tempting options and instead select ones that produce greater long-term benefits. Although some apparent failures of self-control are, on closer inspection, reward maximizing, at least some self-control failures are clearly disadvantageous and non-strategic. The existence of poor self-control presents an important evolutionary puzzle because there is no obvious reason why good self-control should be more costly than poor self-control. After all, a rock is infinitely patient. I propose that self-control failures result from cases in which well-learned (and thus routinized) decision-making strategies yield suboptimal choices. These mappings persist in the decision-makers’ repertoire because they result from learning processes that are adaptive in the broader context, either on the timescale of learning or of evolution. Self-control, then, is a form of cognitive control and the subjective feeling of effort likely reflects the true costs of cognitive control. Poor self-control, in this view, is ultimately a result of bounded optimality. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications.

scholarly journals Differences in neural activation as a function of risk-taking task parameters

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Congdon ◽  
Angelica A. Bato ◽  
Tom Schonberg ◽  
Jeanette A. Mumford ◽  
Katherine H. Karlsgodt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Task Parameters

Theory and method in the quantitative analysis of ”impulsive choice” behaviour: implications for psychopharmacology

1999 ◽  
Vol 146 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-Y. Ho ◽  
S. Mobini ◽  
T.-J. Chiang ◽  
C. M. Bradshaw ◽  
E. Szabadi
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Impulsive Choice ◽  
Choice Behaviour
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