title: Patterns of responding on a balloon analogue task reveal individual differences in overall risk-taking: choice between guaranteed and uncertain cash.
abstract: We explored the utility of analyzing within- and between-balloon response patterns on a balloon analogue task (BAT) in relation to overall risk scores, and to a choice between a small guaranteed cash reward and an uncertain reward of the same expected value. Young adults (n = 61) played a BAT, and then were offered a choice between $5 in cash and betting to win $0 to $15. Between groups, pumping was differentially influenced by explosions and by the number of successive unexploded balloons, with risk takers responding increasingly on successive balloons after an explosion. Within-balloons, risk takers showed a characteristic pattern of constant high rate, while non-risk takers showed a characteristic variable lower rate. Overall, results show that the higher number of pumps and explosions that characterize risk takers at a molar level, result from particular forms of adaptation to the positive and negative outcomes of choices seen at a molecular level.
authors.affiliation: a Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.forename: Noah N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Emery
authors.forename: Perla A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Araceli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Brent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Grove
authors.forename: Huateng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D011336:Probability; D011930:Reaction Time; D012201:Reward; D012306:Risk; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: BART; balloon analog task; choice; impulsivity; molar-molecular analyses; probabilistic rewards; risk-taking