title: Older adults as adaptive decision makers: evidence from the Iowa Gambling Task.
abstract: Older adults process emotional information differently than younger adults and may demonstrate less of a negativity bias on cognitive tasks. The Iowa Gambling Task designed by A. Bechara, H. Damasio, D. Tranel, and A. R. Damasio (1997) has been used to examine the integration of emotion and cognition in a risky-choice decision task and may give insight into differences in the decision-making strategies in younger and older adults. Eighty-eight younger adults (18-34 years) and 67 older adults (65-88 years) completed the Iowa Gambling Task. Using a theoretical decomposition of the task designed by J. R. Busemeyer and J. C. Stout (2002), the authors found that both groups were successful at solving the task but used very different strategies that reflected each group's strength. For younger adults, that strength was learning and memory. For older adults, that strength was an accurate representation of wins and losses (valence).
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, USA. swood@scrippscol.edu
authors: Stacey
authors: S
authors: Wood
authors: Jerome
authors: J
authors: Busemeyer
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Koling
authors: Cathy R
authors: CR
authors: Cox
authors: Hasker
authors: H
authors: Davis
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis