Affective and deliberative processes in risky choice: Age differences in risk taking in the Columbia Card Task.

Abstract

The authors investigated risk taking and underlying information use in 13-to 16-and 17-to 19-year-old adolescents and in adults in 4 experiments, using a novel dynamic risk-taking task, the Columbia Card Task (CCT). The authors investigated risk taking under differential involvement of affective versus deliberative processes with 2 versions of the CCT, constituting the most direct test of a dual-system explanation of adolescent risk taking in the literature so far. The "hot" CCT was designed to trigger more affective decision making, whereas the "cold" CCT was designed to trigger more deliberative decision making. Differential involvement of affective versus deliberative processes in the 2 CCT versions was established by self-reports and assessment of electrodermal activity. Increased adolescent risk taking, coupled with simplified information use, was found in the hot but not the cold condition. Need-forarousal predicted risk taking only in the hot condition, whereas executive functions predicted information use in the cold condition. Results are consistent with recent dual-system explanations of risk taking as the result of competition between affective processes and deliberative cognitive-control processes, with adolescents' affective system tending to override the deliberative system in states of heightened emotional arousal.Keywords: risk taking, adolescence, affective and deliberative decision making, dual system, cognitive control Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014983.supp Everyday risk taking shows a typical developmental trajectory. Comparatively low during childhood, risk taking increases when individuals reach puberty, peaks in adolescence and early adulthood, and decreases again during adulthood. This age pattern has been documented in different risk-taking behaviors, such as the use of licit and illicit substances, dangerous behavior in traffic, unsafe sexual practices, delinquent behaviors, and risky recreational sports

Dissociable effects of age and testosterone on adolescent impatience

“…Such a mechanism may have several implications for the understanding of adolescents' reported sensitivity to arousing situations. For instance, studies on affective risk-taking behaviour in adolescence show that adolescents are more likely than children or adults to make risky choices in emotionally "hot" contexts, where feedback was immediate vs. "cold" contexts, where feedback was delayed (Figner et al, 2009). We hypothesize that these types of effect may be specifically associated with circulating testosterone impacting the striatal dopamine system.…”

Risk-Taking, Delay Discounting, and Time Perspective in Adolescent Gamblers: An Experimental Study

“…From a developmental perspective, there is a temporal imbalance between the slow maturation of circuitry underlying the ability to control impulses and the faster development of circuitry responsible for impulsive and reward-seeking behaviors (Blakemore and Robbins 2012;Dougherty et al 2015;Ernst et al 2006;Ernst and Fudge 2009;Geier and Luna 2009;see also Potenza 2013). This is most probably the reason why adolescence is a period of vulnerability for the engagement in risky behaviors (Figner et al 2009;Spear 2000;Steinberg 2010). …”

Inhibitory Control and Peer Passengers Predict Risky Driving in Young Novice Drivers - A Simulator Study

“…In addition to suboptimal cognitive control, sensitivity of the affective brain system involved in the evaluation of rewards increases, resulting in increased reward sensitivity at the start of adolescence. Especially in rewarding contexts adolescents may therefore be prone to risk taking behavior, when their increased reward-seeking impulses are not appropriately inhibited by cognitive control (Figner et al, 2009). In addition to physiological (drugs) and financial rewards, an important source of rewards during adolescence consists of peers, their opinions and social evaluations.…”