Framing Alters Risk-Taking Behavior on a Modified Balloon Analogue Risk Task (Bart) in a Sex-Specific Manner

2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 699-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara I. Gabriel ◽  
Ashley Williamson

Framing uncertain scenarios to emphasize potential positive or negative elements influences decision making and behavior. The current experiment investigated sex differences in framing effects on risk-taking propensity in a modified version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Male and female undergraduates completed questionnaires on sensation seeking, impulsiveness, and risk and benefit perception prior to viewing one of three framing conditions for the BART: (1) positively-framed instructions emphasizing the ability to earn money if balloons were inflated to large size; (2) negatively framed instructions emphasizing the possibility that money could be lost if balloons were inflated to bursting; and (3) completely framed instructions noting both possible outcomes. Results revealed correlations between BART performance and impulsiveness for both sexes. Compared to positive and complete framing, negatively framed instructions decreased balloon inflation time in women but not men, indicating sex differences in response to treatments designed to alter risk-taking behavior.

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceren Hıdıroğlu ◽  
Özlem Demirci Esen ◽  
Zeliha Tunca ◽  
Şehnaz Neslihan Gűrz Yalçìn ◽  
Lauren Lombardo ◽  
...  

AbstractRisk-taking behavior and impulsivity are core features of bipolar disorder. Whether they are part of the inherited aspect of the illness is not clear. We aimed to evaluate risk-taking behavior as a potential endophenotype for bipolar disorders, and its relationship with impulsivity and illness features. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) were used to assess risk-taking behavior and impulsivity respectively in 30 euthymic bipolar I patients (BD), their 25 asymptomatic first-degree relatives (BD-R), and 30 healthy controls (HC). The primary BART outcome measure was the behavioral adjustment score (number of pumps after trials where the balloon did not pop minus the number of pumps after trials where the balloon popped). BD (p< .001) and BD-R (p= .001) had similar and significantly lower adjustment scores than HC. Only BD scored significantly higher on BIS-11 total (p= .01) and motor (p= .04) subscales than HC. Neither the BART, nor impulsivity scores associated with illness features. A limitation of this study is medicated patients and a heterogeneous BD-R were included. Riskiness may be a candidate endophenotype for bipolar disorder as it appears independently from illness features, presents similarly in BD and BD-R groups and differs from impulsivity. (JINS, 2013,19, 1–9)


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (23-24) ◽  
pp. 5276-5291
Author(s):  
Alisa R. Garner ◽  
Laura C. Spiller ◽  
Patrick Williams

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a decision-making model of risk-taking behavior, specifically impulsivity, positive and negative outcome expectation, and sensation seeking, can be extended to motivation for perpetration of sexual coercion. Participants included 276 sexually active college students between the ages of 18 and 25 years old who completed a set of questionnaires: (a) Sexual Experiences Survey, (b) Sensation Seeking Scales, (c) Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events, (d) Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and (e) Reckless Behavior Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationship between these decision-making models and sexually coercive behaviors. General risk-taking behaviors were positively correlated with acts of sexual coercion, r = .16, p < .01. The predictor variables accounted for a significant amount of the variance in sexual coercion, R2 = .11, F(4, 246) = 7.57, p < .01. Only sensation seeking contributed unique variance to our model of sexual coercion, β = .27, t = 4.06, p < .01. Interventions to reduce sexual coercion may be more successful if they target those high in risk-taking. Similarly, prevention efforts informed by research on how to engage and hold the attention of sensation seeking youth may be more successful.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 444-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly S. DeMartini ◽  
Robert F. Leeman ◽  
William R. Corbin ◽  
Benjamin A. Toll ◽  
Lisa M. Fucito ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1213-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eveline A. Crone ◽  
L. Bullens ◽  
E. A. A. van der Plas ◽  
E. J. Kijkuit ◽  
P. D. Zelazo

AbstractDespite the assumed prevalence of risk-taking behavior in adolescence, the laboratory evidence of risk taking remains scarce, and the individual variation poorly understood. Drawing from neuroscience studies, we tested whether risk and reward orientation are influenced by the perspective that adolescents take when making risky decisions. Perspective taking was manipulated by cuing participants prior to each choice whether the decision was made for “self,” or from the perspective of an “other” (the experimenter in Experiment 1; a hypothetical peer in Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we show a developmental decrease in risk-taking behavior across different stages of adolescence. In addition, all age groups made fewer risky choices for the experimenter, but the difference between self and other was larger in early adolescence. In Experiment 2, we show that high sensation-seeking (SS) adolescents make more risky choices than low SS adolescents, but both groups make a similar differentiation for other individuals (low risk-taking or high risk-taking peers). Together, the results show that younger adolescents and high SS adolescents make more risky choices for themselves, but can appreciate that others may make fewer risky choices. The developmental change toward more rational decisions versus emotional, impulsive decisions may reflect, in part, more efficient integration of others’ perspectives into one's decision making. These developmental results are discussed regarding brain systems important for risk taking and perspective taking.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 147470491301100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly D. Cobey ◽  
Freek Laan ◽  
Gert Stulp ◽  
Abraham P. Buunk ◽  
Thomas V. Pollet

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Chen Zhang ◽  
Kai Dou

The relation between peer influence and risk-taking behaviors has received extensive empirical attention. However, the underlying mechanisms of whether how two-way conflicting context influences risk-taking behaviors still remain unclear. To this end, the current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate how peer competition affects risk-taking behaviors among adolescents. Twenty-four college students completed a Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) under two contexts: single and peer competition condition. Behavioral results showed that participants prefer risk aversion in competitive context. ERPs results showed that participants induce higher N2 under peer competition in the decision-making phase. In the feedback phase, a higher P300 was observed in single condition while a more negative feedback-related negativity (FRN) was showed after loss feedback. Results are in line with social comparison theory and reinforcement learning theory. The specific effect of peer influence on risk-taking behavior has been discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Steward ◽  
Asier Juaneda-Seguí ◽  
Gemma Mestre-Bach ◽  
Ignacio Martínez-Zalacaín ◽  
Nuria Vilarrasa ◽  
...  

Altered activity in decision-making neural circuitry may underlie the maladaptive food choices found in obesity. Here, we aimed to identify the brain regions purportedly underpinning risk-taking behavior in individuals with obesity. Twenty-three adult women with obesity and twenty-three healthy weight controls completed the Risky Gains Task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This task allows participants to choose between a safe option for a small, guaranteed monetary reward and risky options with larger rewards. fMRI analyses comparing losing trials to winning trials found that participants with obesity presented decreased activity in the left anterior insula in comparison to controls (p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected). Moreover, left insula activation during losses vs. wins was negatively correlated with UPPS-P questionnaire sensation seeking scores. During safe vs. risky trials following a loss, the control group exhibited increased activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) (p < 0.05, AlphaSim corrected) in comparison to the OB group. Moreover, vmPFC response in the obesity group during post-loss trials was negatively correlated with risky choices on the task overall. As a whole, our findings support that diminished tuning of the insula towards interoceptive signals may lead to a lack of input to the vmPFC when weighing the costs and benefits of risky choices.


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