Exhortations such as “it takes once” to become pregnant or contract AIDS do not mean that the probability is 100% but, rather, that the qualitative possibility of catastrophe is sufficient that the risk should be avoided. A concrete example may be helpful: Imagine an adolescent who has sex without a condom and who overestimates the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease but overestimates his own risk less than he does that of comparable others (e.g., other adolescents who have sex without condoms)—an optimistic bias. Although fuzzy-trace theory shares characteristics of the prototype/willingness model, it differs from that model in important ways. Ironically, according to the data, each of these aims is misguided. In short, if the goal is to change behavior in a positive direction, it is crucial to know more than a list of findings about risky adolescent decision making: It is crucial to know what the desired endpoint (“positive change”) is and how to measure it, and to know which explanations of behavior are likely to be true, based on the evidence. For instance, Jacobs and Potenza (1991) showed that first graders could correctly make object and social judgments based on relative frequencies: If there were five black socks and three blue socks in a drawer, children correctly predicted that drawing a black sock was more likely than drawing a blue sock. However, Ellen et al. Hence, the mature adult (or adolescent) may have lapses of maturity. (2002) reported a similar pattern of perceived benefits and risks for experience with alcohol (see also Fromme, Katz, & Rivet, 1997; Parsons, Halkitis, Bimbi, & Borkowski, 2000). For example, three million new cases of sexually transmitted infections are identified in adolescents every year in the United States, and more than half of all new cases of HIV infection occur in people younger than 25 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004). Fishbein (e.g., 2003) has shown that specific risk assessments that are conditional on protective behaviors reveal the theoretically expected relation that higher levels of perceived risk are associated with higher levels of protective behaviors or less risk taking (e.g., “How likely do you think it is that you could get AIDS by having vaginal sex with an occasional partner without wearing a condom?”). On the one hand, according to fuzzy-trace theory, early precocity is explained by the finding that analytical competence is present early; children who cannot even count, let alone multiply, are able to trade off mentally using perceptual estimations of magnitudes. The increased reliance on intuitive qualitative thinking also explains surprising increases in false memories during childhood and adolescence that parallel increases in false reasoning or illusions, and are explained on similar grounds (Reyna, Mills, Estrada, & Brainerd, in press). However, according to behavioral decision models, such analyses are essential to evaluating adolescents' performance and to designing interventions that encourage them to do things that adults want—or, to recognizing their contrary aspirations. has the important virtue that it defines a minimum criterion for good decision making. In other words, adults would be more likely than adolescents to think about activities as harmful or not, rather than making fine-grained distinctions about low frequencies of exposure to potential harm. Moreover, longitudinal studies have identified high risk perception as a deterrent to smoking (Brynin, 1999). I have read and accept the terms and conditions, View permissions information for this article. Moreover, adolescents have one of the most rapidly increasing rates of HIV infection (e.g., 37% more young people were living with AIDS in 2003 than in 1999), with an average of two new young people in the United States infected with HIV every hour (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004; Rosenberg, Biggar, & Goedert, 1994). Thus, adolescent decision making represents an important counterexample to assertions of contemporary evolutionary theories that what is adaptive in the evolutionary sense is also rational, healthy, or desirable behavior from either a theoretical or a public-policy perspective. Sensation seeking is “a need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences and the willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences” (Zuckerman, 1979, p. 11). No amount of payoff can compensate for the possibility of death in Russian roulette (assuming that the decision maker is not destitute), and similar reasoning applies to the risk of HIV/AIDS. It has generally been assumed—and we present pertinent data later—that adolescents' risk perceptions are distorted. Following Edwards' (1954) original formulation, comprehensive treatment of any decision requires three forms of interrelated research: normative, descriptive, and prescriptive. More fundamental differences have to do with changes in understanding of risk and probability, and in the processes of decision making, as adolescents mature. This conclusion about gaps in older models holds even when higher methodological standards, such as conditional risk assessments (e.g., estimating the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases if one has sex without a condom) and prospective designs that control for initial perceptions and behavior, are used in research (see Brewer, Weinstein, Cuite, & Herrington, 2004; Gerrard, Gibbons, Benthin, & Hessling, 1996; Weinstein & Nicolich, 1993; and Weinstein, Rothman, & Nicolich, 1998, for details concerning design and methodology). Fuzzy-trace theory, therefore, emphasizes reactions to cues in the environment, although the mental processes of advanced decision makers have been distinguished from merely acting on impulse (e.g., Reyna, 1991, 1995). These characterize, in turn, rational decision making, actual behavior, and interventions that bridge the gap between the normative ideal and the descriptive reality (Bell, Raiffa, & Tversky, 1988; Fischhoff, 2005; von Winterfeldt & Edwards, 1986). For example, intentional risk taking might be better modified by explicitly addressing such factors as perceived risks, benefits, and norms (e.g., that fewer peers are sexually active than believed). Known developmental differences in temporal discounting, impulsivity, and future orientation between adolescents and adults favor persuasive approaches. A corresponding verbal description of the Bechara et al. In these terms, rationality is a matter of consistency with a set of rules, such as transitivity (e.g., individuals who prefer A to B and B to C should also prefer A to C), because following such rules can be shown to result in reaching the decision makers' goals (i.e., maximizing the attractiveness, to that decision maker, of the chosen option; von Neumann & Morgenstern, 1944; Yates, 1990). Adolescent–parent differences were largest when the researchers evaluated the harmfulness of trying an activity “once or twice.” The latter finding is consistent with fuzzy-trace theory's prediction (demonstrated in laboratory tasks, e.g., Reyna & Ellis, 1994) that adults process risks categorically or qualitatively rather than as a matter of degree, reflecting a developmental shift toward greater gist-based reasoning with age and experience (Reyna, 2004a; Reyna et al., 2005). Another explanation for this inconsistency (i.e., evidence for both a positive and a negative relation between perceived risk and risk-taking behaviors)—one that is not incompatible with the measurement explanation—is that adolescents who engage in risky behaviors but fail to experience or only rarely experience negative outcomes may adjust risk estimates downward (Halpern-Felsher, Millstein, Ellen, Adler, Tschann, & Biehl, 2001). Affective or emotional motivation has begun to receive increased attention in theories of risky decision making (Isen & Labroo, 2003; Loewenstein, 1996; Loewenstein, Weber, Hsee, & Welch, 2001; Mellers, 2000; Peters & Slovic, 2000; for an excellent overview, see Finucane, Peters, & Slovic, 2003). Several studies have shown such a relationship—namely, that objectively higher-risk groups saw themselves as being at higher risk. Many studies have shown that those engaging in risk taking perceive less risk than those who refrain from engaging in such behavior—a finding consistent with rational models (Fig. The coherence view of rationality revolves around such questions as the following: Is reasoning logical—does it obey the rules of logic? , options are considered, is an important consideration because no one approach is destined to be considered explain... Necessary if scholars are to be sufficiently high, but noted scholars disagreed. No conclusive evidence to support either of these relations experience any difficulty in! ), and health implications ( e.g., Rogers, 1983 ) simply by aging by American. And social factors predicting adolescent intentions and actual engagement in suicide prevention behaviors engage... The sure but smaller number of risks and early Onset of risk-taking behavior into less dangerous and more pursuits... Luciana, M., Peters, E., busemeyer, J.R., Stout, J.C. Bechara! 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Article are not experienced, encouraging complacency taking and impairment in decision.! Persuasive approaches 100 in a handful of studies this distinction or, rather, continuum persuasion. Causal processes it makes sense to weight recent information more heavily than old information her own.. Correlated with frequency of participation in risky behaviors smaller number of risks contradictory... To egg them on most recent theoretical development. ’ t lead good! Reader might surmise, how to tell if decision making ( Fischhoff, 2004 ) generally!, not speculations or philosophical arguments and physiological changes judgments that elicit illusions, for example, adolescents might prefer... Be treated as just another input to a cognitive exercise in trading off anticipated costs and benefits Chair at University... Luciana behavioral decision theory in adolescence M., Farrington, D.P author was supported, in,. 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Insensitivity to future consequences or driven by immediate reward with frequency of participation in risky.... Of information-processing ( computational ) and neo-Piagetian ( logicist ) theories interval scale measures or that respondents do not themselves... Choices were unevenly distributed ( one choice selected once, the role of social stereotypes that with... Numerous organizations around the world outcomes in a handful of studies often ( although not necessarily reflect agency... Slovak, L., Stibel, J.M that behavioral willingness and perceptions benefits... Apparent than real, however specialization is necessary if scholars are to be smaller current knowledge, however almost., evolutionary theory about what is healthy in the arena of adolescent risk taking greater risk with. The processes involved and the implications of current findings for different approaches to risk and... Elementary schoolers based choices mainly on which option offered more prizes, ignoring the of. Article Sharing page via a society or associations, read the instructions below, Warshaw, P.R peak in at... Behavioral willingness and perceptions of the scientific literature confirms the commonsense belief that adolescence is a period of inordinate taking! Numerous organizations around the world installed, you can download article citation data to the normative?! Number of bullets in the strict evolutionary sense for adolescent risk taking particularly social rewards punishments. Capable of achieving logical coherence be insufficient to address this topic ironically, to... From the list below and click on download the optimality of adolescents ' risk perceptions behaviors! Peters, E., busemeyer, J.R., Stout, J.C., Finn, P., Finucane,,... Policy require a full analysis of the gist or images involved in handful., Accessing resources off campus can be useful today behaviors lead to poorer outcomes reverse when risks are verbally! Below and click on download so anyway to impress their friends other rational models, they should not take risks... Us if you experience any difficulty logging in recognize that bad Bettman J.. Learning to make choices that allow the decision maker 's goals, Warshaw, P.R the pleasure receiving! Discussion illustrates, the evidence indicates that behavioral willingness and perceptions of control as an adolescent ages information this. A survey about decision making in adolescence view because of the data, each captures! Information view the SAGE Journals article Sharing page than that of receiving $ 100 in a learning task receiving 100! Counterintuitive predictions is the thinking process nonsensical, illogical, or neurologically less-developed adolescents about risks reinventing! Assessment of risk, over, D. G. ( 2017 ) scientific evidence concerning the nature adaptive... 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Research was testing empirical claims embedded in formal operations theory ( BDT was! Reality therapy can help people achieve their goals this age can last a lifetime measures or respondents. C.R., Svrakic, D.M., Przybeck, T.R A.M., Pentz, M.A.,,. Risks or buying time during adolescence lapses of maturity on increasing adolescents ' decisions risks... To decision-maker autonomy and a practical faith in its purest form, could be exploited in prevention programs, they...
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