Age and Adaptation: Stronger Decision Updating about Real World Risks in Older Age

Abstract

In later life, people are faced with a multitude of risky decisions that concern their health, finance, and personal security. Older adults often exercise caution in situations that involve risk. In this research, we asked whether older adults are also more responsive to warnings about potential risk. An answer to this question could reveal a factor underlying increased cautiousness in older age. In Study 1, participants decided whether they would engage in risky activities (e.g., using an ATM machine in the street) in four realistic scenarios about which participants could be expected to have relevant knowledge or experience. They then made posterior decisions after listening to audio extracts of real reports relevant to each activity. In Study 2, we explored the role that emotions play in decision updating. As in Study 1, participants made prior and posterior decisions, with the exception that for each scenario the reports were presented in their original audio format (high emotive) or in a written transcript format (low emotive). Following each posterior decision, participants indicated their emotional valence and arousal responses to the reports. In both studies, older adults engaged in fewer risky activities than younger adults, indicative of increased cautiousness in older age, and exhibited stronger decision updating in response to the reports. Older adults also showed stronger emotional responses to the reports, even though emotional responses did not differ for audio and written transcript formats. Finally, age differences in emotional responses to the reports accounted for age differences in decision updating.

Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults

“…Our meta-analysis did not allow to test the trial-to-trial behavior adjustment after losses and gains, again due to the lack of available information. The analysis of gains and losses ratio in function of decks selection is of high relevance to increased caution after losses (Rolison et al, 2013 , 2016 ). This would also help to clarify the pattern of strategies of older adults that may be associated with reduced total net scores.…”

“…Under risk, younger and older adults showed similar patterns of decision-making (Mata et al, 2011 ). Interestingly, older adults engage less in risky activities compared to younger adults, and are more responsive to warnings about potential risks (Rolison et al, 2016 ). The aging-related reduction in risk-taking seems to occur steeply for financial and recreational decisions, but smoothly for ethical and health-related decisions (Rolison et al, 2013 ).…”

“…The aging-related reduction in risk-taking seems to occur steeply for financial and recreational decisions, but smoothly for ethical and health-related decisions (Rolison et al, 2013 ). It seems that, under risk, older adults respond to threat levels with increased cautiousness (Rolison et al, 2013 , 2016 ), but the threat level may be difficult to identify without previous information, as occurs in decision-making under uncertainty (Mata et al, 2011 ).…”

“…The revised literature documents that older adults show detrimental changes in decision-making brain-related areas that may compromise critical functions as EF, reversal and reinforcement learning that are critical processes to decision-making under uncertainty. However, and considering that decisions under risk are similar (Mata et al, 2011 ) or even improved compared to younger adults (Rolison et al, 2013 , 2016 ), it remains unclear whether older adults are capable of learning adaptive strategies and move from uncertainty toward risk, that is, to integrate affective automatic responses in memory and rational analytical systems that facilitate future adaptive decision-making.…”

Aging Society and Attitude to Risk

“…According to the authors, if learning leads to a more risky choice, then older adults show a much more riskaverse behavour than younger adults; in contrast, if learning leads to riskaverse behaviour, then older adults made a riskier decision than younger adults. In the decision situation relating to the use of an ATM in the street older adults showed a stronger emotional response than younger adults to the audio and written reports relating to the decision; they also showed more willingness to reconsider their decisions (Rolison et al, 2017).…”