Decision Making Across Adulthood

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 345-363
Author(s):  
JoNell Strough ◽  
Wändi Bruine de Bruin

This review summarizes research and theory on aging and decision making. We trace the conceptual and historical origins of using behavioral decision-making tasks to identify age differences in decision-making competence. We review cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that suggest that some facets of decision-making competence remain relatively stable across adulthood. We describe how older adults’ decision-making competence may be challenged by complex decisions that tax their fluid cognitive abilities, especially when decisions are not seen as personally relevant. We discuss how relying on life experience can offset declines in fluid reasoning skills and how age-related shifts in motivation and improvements in emotion regulation provide an advantage when decisions involve losses and missed opportunities. We discuss how existing knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the aging decision maker might be applied to improve decision-making competence and outline next steps for advancing understanding of decision making across adulthood.

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 479-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katheryn A. Ocampo ◽  
George P. Knight ◽  
Martha E. Bernal

The literature on the development of social identities in children has largely adhered to a cognitive developmental framework. However, to date, there has been little or no direct empirical demonstration of cognitive developmental levels associated with age accounting for variations in the expression of social identities. The current study directly assessed this hypothesis within ethnic identity. Ethnic identity in school-age children was assessed with the components outlined by Bernal, Knight, Garza, Ocampo, and Cota (1990), whereas level of cognitive ability was measured with an adaptation of Piaget’s conservation and classification tasks. It was hypothesised that cognitive ability would account for age differences in the components of ethnic self-identification, ethnic constancy, and to a lesser extent, ethnic knowledge. The results demonstrated that level of cognitive ability did not account for the age differences in ethnic self-identification or ethnic constancy. However, they did account for differences in ethnic knowledge. It is possible that the age changes found in ethnic and other social identities may be caused by other age-related changes in development, such as changes in learning through socialisation. This would imply that other phenomena hypothesised to be caused by changes in cognitive ability, such as the development of in-group pride and prejudice in children, may be altered by changes in the way young children are socialised by familial and nonfamilial agents. Research on social identities may bene”t from a departure from cognitive developmental theory and from increased attention to other theories, such as socialisation theory, in understanding the development of ethnic identity and other social identities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norikazu Hirose ◽  
Chikako Nakahori

Purpose:To describe cross-sectional age differences in change-of-direction performance (CODp) in female football players and investigate the relationship between CODp and linear-sprint speed, muscle power, and body size.Methods:A sample of 135 well-trained female football players was divided into 8 age groups. Anthropometry (height, body mass, and lean body mass) and athletic performance (10-m sprint speed, 10-m × 5-CODp, and 5-step bounding distance) were compared to determine interage differences using ANOVA. Then, the participants were divided into 3 age groups: 12- to 14-y-olds, 15- to 17-y-olds, and ≥ 18 y-olds. Simple- and multiple-regression analyses were conducted to determine the correlation between CODp and the other measurement variables in each age group.Results:Age-related differences were found for CODp (F = 10.41, P < .01), sprint speed (F = 3.27, P < .01), and bounding distance (F = 4.20, P < .01). Post hoc analysis revealed that the CODp of 17-y-old players was faster than that of 16-y-old players (P < .01), with no interage differences in sprint speed and bounding distance. Sprint speed and bounding distance were weakly correlated with CODp in 15- to ≥18-y-old players, but only sprint speed was correlated with CODp in 12- to 14-y-old players.Conclusions:CODp improves from 16 to 17 y of age in female players. Linear-sprint speed, muscle power, and body size were weakly correlated with the age differences in CODp.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 01022
Author(s):  
Felix Zakirov ◽  
Arsenty Krasilnikov

During aging cognitive functions change differently from others. Unlike most of the body systems, there is no clear decline pattern in cognitive processes. One of the most significant cognitive processes is decision-making, which defines social interactions, economical relationships, and risky behavior. Among factors influence decisionmaking process, individual lifelong experience is considered to be an important one. Obviously, older adults have more life experience, than the younger groups. However, the former often do not tend to rational choices and beneficial strategies. In this case it is important to assess how aging processes in brain contribute into searching for the most beneficial option during decision-making. On the basis of today’s studies about risky behavior, judgement of fairness, financial games, and modern neuroimaging data this review will observe and discuss age-related differences in decision-making. Thus, a correct cognitive profile of older adult in decision-making context can be determined.


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (8) ◽  
pp. 857-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga A. Vyatleva ◽  
A. M. Kurgansky

Introduction. The broad spread of cell phones (CP) among schoolchildren and the absence of age standards for their safe use determined the purpose of the study: to reveal the regimens of CP use, critical for the health of children and adolescents. Material and methods. In a cross-sectional study in 2008-2010, by the questionnaire data of 2,137 schoolchildren aged 6-15 years there was assessed the impact of CP usage indices (daily number of calls - CN, call duration - CD, and total daily duration of calls - TCDD) on health (the incidence of headaches and sleep disorders, number of colds). Student and Mann-Whitney criteria and assessment of relative risks were used. Results. The study revealed age-dependent critical values of usage indices (in 6-10 years: CN=2, TCDD=6 minutes.; in 11-13 years: CN=6; in 14-15 years CN=6, CD=3 minutes., TCDD=4 -10 min.), the exceeding of which due to risks: in 6-10 years - to have more than 4 colds a year (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.09-4.62); in 11-13 years to have several headaches per week (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.12-2.30); in 14-15 years - to have several headaches (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.27-2.54) and several sleep disorders (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.17-2.37) per week. Discussion. Age differences in critical modes of CP use and in health violations, as well as the importance of radiation intensity are discussed. Conclusions. Age-related CP use regimens, critical for health, were established. It was shown the need to develop more precise age criteria for safe CP use with taking into account a wider range of health indicators and radiation intensity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 215-215
Author(s):  
Eric Cerino ◽  
Jonathan Rush ◽  
Robert Stawski

Abstract Exposure to daily stress is an important risk factor for healthy aging. We examined cross-sectional age-related differences and longitudinal aging-related change in stressor exposure across three waves of the National Study of Daily Experiences (N=2,914, M=51.53 years, SD=13.55, 56.35% Female) spanning 20 years. Exposure to six types of stressors (arguments, avoided arguments, work overloads, home overloads, network stressors, other) were obtained from telephone interviews over 8 consecutive days in waves conducted in ~1996, ~2008, and ~2017. Longitudinal analyses revealed declines in stressor exposure across 20 years (p&lt;.01), driven by declines in arguments, work overloads, and network stressors specifically. Cross-sectional analyses indicated that older individuals reported stressors less frequently (p&lt;.01), driven by decreases in arguments, avoided arguments, work overloads, and home overloads specifically. Rates of longitudinal decline did not depend on age at baseline. Results suggest that aging-related changes and baseline age differences inform daily stress trajectories in mid- and later-life.


2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingyan Pu ◽  
Huamao Peng ◽  
Shiyong Xia

Framing effect studies indicate that individuals are risk averse for decisions framed as gains but risk-seeking for decisions framed as losses. Findings of age-related differences in susceptibility to framing are mixed. In the current study, we examined emotional arousal in two decision tasks (life saving vs. money gambling) to evaluate the effects of emotion on age differences in the framing effect. When cognitive abilities and styles were controlled, there was a framing effect in the younger group in the life-saving task, a high-emotional arousal task, while older adults did not display this classic framing effect pattern. They showed risk aversion in both positive and negative framing. Age differences existed in the framing effect. Conversely, younger and older adults in the money-gambling task both displayed the framing effect; there was no age difference. When the cognitive abilities were not controlled, the pattern of results in the high-emotional arousal task remained unchanged, while greater framing effects were found, from the perspective of effect size, for older than younger adults in the low-emotional arousal task. Limited cognitive resources would not hamper older adults’ performances when their emotional arousal was high. However, older adults with low-level emotional arousal were more susceptible than younger adults to framing because of declining cognitive capacities. This implied the importance of emotion in older adults’ decision making and supported the selective engagement hypothesis.


2021 ◽  
pp. 203-233
Author(s):  
Klara Rydzewska ◽  
Maciej Koscielniak ◽  
Bettina von Helversen ◽  
Grzegorz Sedek

This chapter discusses age differences in complex decision making and judgment, particularly the role of motivational factors and individual differences. Literature on the influence of age-related changes in cognition and motivation on search and performance in complex decision making is reviewed. The role of financial incentives, need for cognition, and need for cognitive closure is discussed, including the age-related influence of motivational factors on the performance of sequential decision-making tasks. Additionally, the role of feedback as a factor producing superior performance of older adults in a decision-making task is introduced. Moreover, novel research findings regarding connections between intellectual helplessness and information and communication technologies in older adults are presented. Lastly, individual differences in numeracy and intellectual helplessness in mathematics as predictors of age-related differences in performance of multiattribute tasks are described.


2002 ◽  
Vol 283 (2) ◽  
pp. C484-C488 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.-I. Wada ◽  
H. Takahashi ◽  
S. Katsuta ◽  
H. Soya

Age-related but not artificially induced muscle fiber atrophy has been shown to occur without any decrease in myonuclear number, although these results remain controversial. The present study was carried out to clarify whether age difference affects the degree of decrease in myonuclear number occurring with denervation-induced fiber atrophy. After denervation of 3-wk-old (young) and 4-mo-old (mature) mice, single myofibers were isolated from the plantaris muscles by alkali maceration, and their fiber cross-sectional area (CSA), myonuclear number, and cytoplasm-to-myonucleus (C/N) ratios were analyzed. Fiber CSA in both young and mature mice decreased with denervation. Myonuclear number decreased in young mice 5 and 10 days after denervation but was unchanged in mature mice 10 and 120 days after denervation. C/N ratio decreased in mature mice but was unchanged in denervated young mice. These results suggest that age differences affect the degree of decrease of myonuclear number with denervation and that fiber cytoplasmic atrophy may occur without decrease in myonuclear number.


eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Bolenz ◽  
Wouter Kool ◽  
Andrea MF Reiter ◽  
Ben Eppinger

Humans employ different strategies when making decisions. Previous research has reported reduced reliance on model-based strategies with aging, but it remains unclear whether this is due to cognitive or motivational factors. Moreover, it is not clear how aging affects the metacontrol of decision making, that is the dynamic adaptation of decision-making strategies to varying situational demands. In this cross-sectional study, we tested younger and older adults in a sequential decision-making task that dissociates model-free and model-based strategies. In contrast to previous research, model-based strategies led to higher payoffs. Moreover, we manipulated the costs and benefits of model-based strategies by varying reward magnitude and the stability of the task structure. Compared to younger adults, older adults showed reduced model-based decision making and less adaptation of decision-making strategies. Our findings suggest that aging affects the metacontrol of decision-making strategies and that reduced model-based strategies in older adults are due to limited cognitive abilities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 406-406
Author(s):  
Dannii Yeung ◽  
Alvin Ho

Abstract Building on the theoretical framework of socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, 2006), this presentation reports the findings of two studies conducted in Hong Kong Chinese workers to examine whether occupational future time perspective (OFTP) can account for the age differences in conflict strategies. Study 1 is a cross-sectional study with 416 working adults completed an online survey on conflict management (Mage=39.1 years, SD=12.1), and Study 2 is a laboratory study with 123 workers (Mage=40.1 years, SD=12.1) indicated their behavioural responses after watching hypothetical workplace conflict videos. In both studies, five conflict strategies (integrating, compromising, obliging, avoiding, and dominating) and OFTP (focus on opportunities and focus on limitations) were assessed. Parallel mediation analyses were performed. The results of Study 1 showed that both focus on opportunities and focus on limitations mediated the effects of age on obliging (b = -.006, SE=.002; and b = .006, SE=.002, respectively), avoiding (b = -.005, SE=.002; and b =.008, SE=.002, respectively), and dominating (b = -.014, SE=.003; and b = .009, SE=.002, respectively). Focus on opportunities could only account for the effects of age on integrating and compromising. The results of Study 2 showed that only focus on limitation could account for the age variations in the use of avoiding (b = .196, SE = .058) when facing intergenerational conflicts. The findings of this project reveal that the age-related focus on limitations increases older workers’ likelihood to utilize maladaptive conflict strategies, such as dominating and avoiding, to deal with conflicts occurred in the workplace.


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