The Context of Caution: An Examination of Age, Social Context, and Sex on Measures of Inhibitory Control and Risky Decision-Making

Abstract

Understanding how older adults successfully navigate complex choices like driving requires the consideration of processing speed, inhibitory control, attentional processes, and risk management, and the context within which these decisions occur. The current study employed the Flanker task, the Stoplight task, and a personality inventory with 43 younger adults and 49 older adults either while they were alone or being observed by two same-sex, similarly aged peers. On the Flanker task, older adults performed more slowly, but with comparable accuracy. On the Stoplight task, there was a significant main effect of Context, and an Age-Group by Sex interaction, even after controlling for response time: All groups had a greater number of crashes when alone, and young adult males had significantly more crashes than any other group. These results emphasize the importance of considering the broader context of decision-making.

Learning R Programming Language With Psi Chi

“…It follows, then, that younger adults would also be more likely to partake in highrisk behaviors. This is evidenced by the prevalence of risky behaviors such as drug abuse, crime, and risky sexual behavior seen in younger adults compared to their older adult counterparts (Cowell, Patiel, & Peters, 2019;Turner & McClure, 2003).…”

“…High sensation seeking is associated with increased propensity toward risky behaviors that can be detrimental to oneself and others (Horvath & Zuckerman, 1993). Younger adults not only tend to have higher sensationseeking scores than older adults, but also demonstrate a greater inclination toward risky behaviors (Cowell, Patiel, & Peters, 2019;Turner & McClure, 2003). The present study considered whether risktaking behavior is a function of an overactive initiation system (a strong, immediate response to a stimulus) or an underactive inhibitory system (inability to resist an immediate response).…”

“…Current research on response initiation and response inhibition has yielded conflicting results and made use of drastically different methodolo gies. Although many studies have focused on vari ability of response inhibition between individuals of different sensationseeking levels and age groups (Butler & Zacks 2006;Cowell et al, 2019;Zheng & Liu, 2015), one study suggested that larger individual variability may be found between response initiation, rather than inhibition. Collins, Corbly, Liu, Kelly, Lynam, and Joseph (2012) used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain areas involved in response initiation and response inhibition to uncover any differences that exist between individuals who are low sensation seekers and those who are high sensation seekers.…”

The Effect of Model Minority Myth Salience on White Americans’ Perceptions of Black Americans and Their Support for Affirmative Action

“…toward risky behaviors that can be detrimental to oneself and others (Horvath & Zuckerman, 1993). Younger adults not only tend to have higher sensationseeking scores than older adults, but also demonstrate a greater inclination toward risky behaviors (Cowell, Patiel, & Peters, 2019;Turner & McClure, 2003). The present study considered whether risktaking behavior is a function of an overactive initiation system (a strong, immediate response to a stimulus) or an underactive inhibitory system (inability to resist an immediate response).…”

Age-related differences in decision-making process in the context of healthy aging

“…Age-related differences in risky behavior were described in a number of studies, including financial games, as well as applied decision-making [34][35][36]. In the most of the studies risk-taking was reported to increase during aging, with elder adults being the most prone to risky decisions.…”