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Andrew M. Parker - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Developmental trajectory classes in psychological dysregulation predict later Decision-Making Competence.
Addictive behaviors, 2020Co-Authors: Joshua A. Weller, Andrew M. Parker, Maureen Reynolds, Levent KirisciAbstract:Abstract Adolescence and emerging adulthood are developmental periods associated with increased risk taking, including increases in alcohol and substance use and antisocial behaviors. Typical psychological growth from adolescence into early adulthood reflects increases in traits related to psychological regulation (e.g., greater emotional stability and less impulsivity). However, individuals often vary greatly in these developmental trajectories. The current research examines the degree to which differences in developmental trajectories of psychological regulation are associated with Decision-Making skills – i.e., those “needed by normatively competent decision makers” ( Bruine de Bruin et al., 2007 ). In this study, self-regulatory capacities were measured at age 10-12, with follow-up assessments at 14, 16, and 19 years. At age 19, we administered the Youth Decision-Making Competence (DMC) scale. Correlational analyses revealed that lower psychological regulation as early as age 10 was associated with worse DMC scores. A latent class growth mixture model yielded three distinct developmental trajectories of psychological regulation: (a) a Moderate-Stable group, a modal class that demonstrated stable and average regulative tendencies throughout adolescence, (b) a Low-Decreasing group, which demonstrated greater self-regulation throughout childhood, and a (c) High-Increasing group, which demonstrated low self-regulative tendencies at age 10 that became increasingly dysregulated throughout adolescence. Individuals in the Moderate-Stable group and the High-Increasing group demonstrated lower DMC performance than those in the Low-Decreasing group. Our findings also reinforce past work that indicates considerable individual differences in intra-individual change across adolescence, and that even early patterns of psychological dysregulation development can impact later Decision-Making tendencies.
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Decision-Making Competence: More Than Intelligence?:
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2020Co-Authors: Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Andrew M. Parker, Baruch FischhoffAbstract:Decision-Making Competence refers to the ability to make better decisions, as defined by Decision-Making principles posited by models of rational choice. Historically, psychological research on dec...
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Decision-Making Competence in older adults: A rosy view from a longitudinal investigation.
Psychology and aging, 2020Co-Authors: Fabio Del Missier, Andrew M. Parker, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Patrik Hansson, Timo MäntyläAbstract:Cross-sectional studies have suggested age-related differences in Decision-Making Competence, but these differences may also reflect cohort-related effects. We present a longitudinal study of age-related changes over 5 years in older adults (aged 60-85) for 3 important aspects of Decision-Making Competence: resistance to framing, applying decision rules, and resistance to sunk costs. The findings show small age-related longitudinal declines in resistance to framing but no decline in applying decision rules or resistance to sunk costs. The results also indicate that individuals' Decision-Making Competence after 5 years is significantly related to their initial Decision-Making Competence assessment and that the contribution of crystallized abilities to decision making in older adults is greater than previously thought. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Robustness of Decision‐Making Competence: Evidence from Two Measures and an 11‐Year Longitudinal Study
Journal of behavioral decision making, 2017Co-Authors: Andrew M. Parker, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Baruch Fischhoff, Joshua A. WellerAbstract:Decision-Making Competence is the ability to follow normative principles when making decisions. In a longitudinal analysis, we examine the robustness of Decision-Making Competence over time, as measured by two batteries of paper-and-pencil tasks. Participants completed the youth version (Y-DMC) at age 19 and/or the adult version (A-DMC) eleven years later at age 30, as part of a larger longitudinal study. Both measures are comprised of tasks adapted from ones used in experimental studies of Decision-Making skills. Results supported the robustness of these measures and the usefulness of the construct. Response patterns for Y-DMC were similar to those observed with a smaller initial sample drawn from the same population. Response patterns for A-DMC were similar to those observed with an earlier community sample. Y-DMC and A-DMC were significantly correlated, for participants who completed both measures, 11 years apart, even after controlling for measures of cognitive ability. Nomological validity was observed in correlations of scores on both tests with measures of cognitive ability, cognitive style, and environmental factors with predicted relationships to Decision-Making Competence, including household SES, neighborhood disadvantage, and paternal substance abuse. Higher Y-DMC and A-DMC scores were also associated with lower rates of potentially risky and antisocial behaviors, including adolescent delinquency, cannabis use, and early sexual behavior. Thus, the Y-DMC and A-DMC measures appear to capture a relatively stable, measurable construct that increases with supportive environmental factors and is associated with constructive behaviors.
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Decision-Making Competence and attempted suicide.
The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 2015Co-Authors: Katalin Szanto, Andrew M. Parker, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Michael N Hallquist, Polina M Vanyukov, Alexandre Y DombrovskiAbstract:The propensity of people vulnerable to suicide to make poor life decisions is increasingly well documented. Do they display an extreme degree of decision biases? The present study used a behavioral-decision approach to examine the susceptibility of low-lethality and high-lethality suicide attempters to common decision biases that may ultimately obscure alternative solutions and deterrents to suicide in a crisis. We assessed older and middle-aged (42-97 years) individuals who made high-lethality (medically serious) (n = 31) and low-lethality suicide attempts (n = 29). Comparison groups included suicide ideators (n = 30), nonsuicidal depressed participants (n = 53), and psychiatrically healthy participants (n = 28). Attempters, ideators, and nonsuicidal depressed participants had nonpsychotic major depression (DSM-IV criteria). Decision biases included sunk cost (inability to abort an action for which costs are irrecoverable), framing (responding to superficial features of how a problem is presented), underconfidence/overconfidence (appropriateness of confidence in knowledge), and inconsistent risk perception. Data were collected between June 2010 and February 2014. Both high- and low-lethality attempters were more susceptible to framing effects as compared to the other groups included in this study (P ≤ .05, ηp2 = 0.06). In contrast, low-lethality attempters were more susceptible to sunk costs than both the comparison groups and high-lethality attempters (P ≤ .01, ηp2 = 0.09). These group differences remained after accounting for age, global cognitive performance, and impulsive traits. Premorbid IQ partially explained group differences in framing effects. Suicide attempters' failure to resist framing may reflect their inability to consider a decision from an objective standpoint in a crisis. Failure of low-lethality attempters to resist sunk cost may reflect their tendency to confuse past and future costs of their behavior, lowering their threshold for acting on suicidal thoughts. © Copyright 2015 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
Susanne Bögeholz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Modeling and Fostering Decision-Making Competencies Regarding Challenging Issues of Sustainable Development
Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment, 2017Co-Authors: Susanne Bögeholz, Sabina Eggert, Carolin Ziese, Marcus HasselhornAbstract:A model of Decision-Making Competence for secondary school students was developed and validated within the project “Decision-Making Competence Regarding Challenging Issues of Sustainable Development”. The model rests on three pillars: Education for Sustainable Development, Decision-Making theory, and educational Competence modeling. Three dimensions of Decision-Making Competence were identified: (1) “Understanding values and norms” in the context of Sustainable Development (SD), (2) “Developing solutions”, and (3) “Evaluating solutions” for SD problems. The two last-mentioned dimensions stem from Decision-Making theory, and were adapted to educational purposes. Related measurement instruments were developed according to Wilson’s developmental cycle, using a between-item-multidimensionality approach. The test development procedures and results are described for the dimension “Developing solutions”. Moreover, we started with an experimental validation of a theory of socioscientific decision making. More specifically, we used training-induced strategies to realize experimental variation to differentiate empirically between two Decision-Making dimensions and problem solving. The results of a pilot study addressing the validation of “Developing solutions” and “Evaluating solutions”, vis-a-vis problem solving, are reported and discussed. We close with considerations of future research, to realign the boundaries of our research program.
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Enhancing Decision-Making in STSE Education by Inducing Reflection and Self-Regulated Learning
Research in Science Education, 2015Co-Authors: Helge Gresch, Marcus Hasselhorn, Susanne BögeholzAbstract:Thoughtful Decision-Making to resolve socioscientific issues is central to science, technology, society, and environment (STSE) education. One approach for attaining this goal involves fostering students’ Decision-Making processes. Thus, the present study explores whether the application of Decision-Making strategies, combined with reflections on the Decision-Making processes of others, enhances Decision-Making Competence. In addition, this study examines whether this process is supported by elements of self-regulated learning, i.e., self-reflection regarding one’s own performance and the setting of goals for subsequent tasks. A computer-based training program which involves the resolution of socioscientific issues related to sustainable development was developed in two versions: with and without elements of self-regulated learning. Its effects on Decision-Making Competence were analyzed using a pre test-post test follow-up control-group design (N = 242 high school students). Decision-Making Competence was assessed using an open-ended questionnaire that focused on three facets: consideration of advantages and disadvantages, metadecision aspects, and reflection on the Decision-Making processes of others. The findings suggest that students in both training groups incorporated aspects of metadecision into their statements more often than students in the control group. Furthermore, both training groups were more successful in reflecting on the Decision-Making processes of others. The students who received additional training in self-regulated learning showed greater benefits in terms of metadecision aspects and reflection, and these effects remained significant two months later. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the application of Decision-Making strategies, combined with reflections on the Decision-Making process and elements of self-regulated learning, is a fruitful approach in STSE education.
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Training in Decision-Making Strategies: An Approach to Enhance Students' Competence to Deal with Socio-Scientific Issues
International Journal of Science Education, 2013Co-Authors: Helge Gresch, Marcus Hasselhorn, Susanne BögeholzAbstract:Dealing with socio-scientific issues in science classes enables students to participate productively in controversial discussions concerning ethical topics, such as sustainable development. In this respect, well-structured Decision-Making processes are essential for elaborate reasoning. To foster Decision-Making Competence, a computer-based programme was developed that trains secondary school students (grades 11–13) in Decision-Making strategies. The main research question is: does training students to use these strategies foster Decision-Making Competence? In addition, the influence of meta-decision aids was examined. Students conducted a task analysis to select an appropriate strategy prior to the Decision-Making process. Hence, the second research question is: does combining Decision-Making training with a task analysis enhance Decision-Making Competence at a higher rate? To answer these questions, 386 students were tested in a pre-post-follow-up control-group design that included two training groups (...
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Training in Decision-Making Strategies: An Approach to Enhance Students' Competence to Deal with Socioscientific Issues
International Journal of Science Education, 2011Co-Authors: Helge Gresch, Marcus Hasselhorn, Susanne BögeholzAbstract:Dealing with socioscientific issues in science classes enables students to participate productively in controversial discussions concerning ethical topics such as sustainable development. In this respect, well-structured Decision-Making processes are essential for elaborate reasoning. To foster Decision-Making Competence, a computer-based programme was developed that trains secondary school students (grades 11-13) in Decision-Making strategies. The main research question is: does training students to use these strategies foster Decision-Making Competence? In addition, the influence of metadecision aids was examined. Students conducted a task analysis to select an appropriate strategy prior to the Decision-Making process. Hence, the second research question is: does combining Decision-Making training with a task analysis enhance Decision-Making Competence at a higher rate? To answer these questions, 386 students were tested in a pre-post-follow-up control-group design that included two training groups (Decision-Making strategies/Decision-Making strategies combined with a task analysis) and a control group (Decision-Making with additional ecological information instead of strategic training). An open-ended questionnaire was used to assess Decision-Making Competence in situations related to sustainable development. The Decision-Making training led to a significant improvement in the post-test and the follow-up, which was administered three months after the training. Long-term effects on the quality of the students' decisions were evident for both training groups. Gains in Competence when reflecting upon the Decision-Making processes of others were found, to a lesser extent, in the training group that received the additional metadecision training. In conclusion, training in Decision-Making strategies is a promising approach to deal with socioscientific issues related to sustainable development.
Wändi Bruine De Bruin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Decision-Making Competence: More Than Intelligence?:
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2020Co-Authors: Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Andrew M. Parker, Baruch FischhoffAbstract:Decision-Making Competence refers to the ability to make better decisions, as defined by Decision-Making principles posited by models of rational choice. Historically, psychological research on dec...
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Decision-Making Competence in older adults: A rosy view from a longitudinal investigation.
Psychology and aging, 2020Co-Authors: Fabio Del Missier, Andrew M. Parker, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Patrik Hansson, Timo MäntyläAbstract:Cross-sectional studies have suggested age-related differences in Decision-Making Competence, but these differences may also reflect cohort-related effects. We present a longitudinal study of age-related changes over 5 years in older adults (aged 60-85) for 3 important aspects of Decision-Making Competence: resistance to framing, applying decision rules, and resistance to sunk costs. The findings show small age-related longitudinal declines in resistance to framing but no decline in applying decision rules or resistance to sunk costs. The results also indicate that individuals' Decision-Making Competence after 5 years is significantly related to their initial Decision-Making Competence assessment and that the contribution of crystallized abilities to decision making in older adults is greater than previously thought. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Decision-Making Competence in younger and older adults: which cognitive abilities contribute to the application of decision rules?
Neuropsychology development and cognition. Section B Aging neuropsychology and cognition, 2017Co-Authors: Alessia Rosi, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Fabio Del Missier, Elena Cavallini, Riccardo RussoAbstract:Older adults perform worse than younger adults when applying decision rules to choose between options that vary along multiple attributes. Although previous studies have shown that general fluid cognitive abilities contribute to the accurate application of decision rules, relatively little is known about which specific cognitive abilities play the most important role. We examined the independent roles of working memory, verbal fluency, semantic knowledge, and components of executive functioning. We found that age-related decline in applying decision rules was statistically mediated by age-related decline in working memory and verbal fluency. Our results have implications for theories of aging and Decision-Making.
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Robustness of Decision‐Making Competence: Evidence from Two Measures and an 11‐Year Longitudinal Study
Journal of behavioral decision making, 2017Co-Authors: Andrew M. Parker, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Baruch Fischhoff, Joshua A. WellerAbstract:Decision-Making Competence is the ability to follow normative principles when making decisions. In a longitudinal analysis, we examine the robustness of Decision-Making Competence over time, as measured by two batteries of paper-and-pencil tasks. Participants completed the youth version (Y-DMC) at age 19 and/or the adult version (A-DMC) eleven years later at age 30, as part of a larger longitudinal study. Both measures are comprised of tasks adapted from ones used in experimental studies of Decision-Making skills. Results supported the robustness of these measures and the usefulness of the construct. Response patterns for Y-DMC were similar to those observed with a smaller initial sample drawn from the same population. Response patterns for A-DMC were similar to those observed with an earlier community sample. Y-DMC and A-DMC were significantly correlated, for participants who completed both measures, 11 years apart, even after controlling for measures of cognitive ability. Nomological validity was observed in correlations of scores on both tests with measures of cognitive ability, cognitive style, and environmental factors with predicted relationships to Decision-Making Competence, including household SES, neighborhood disadvantage, and paternal substance abuse. Higher Y-DMC and A-DMC scores were also associated with lower rates of potentially risky and antisocial behaviors, including adolescent delinquency, cannabis use, and early sexual behavior. Thus, the Y-DMC and A-DMC measures appear to capture a relatively stable, measurable construct that increases with supportive environmental factors and is associated with constructive behaviors.
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Decision-Making Competence and attempted suicide.
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2015Co-Authors: Katalin Szanto, Andrew M. Parker, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Michael N Hallquist, Polina M Vanyukov, Alexandre Y DombrovskiAbstract:OBJECTIVE: The propensity of people vulnerable to suicide to make poor life decisions is increasingly well documented. Do they display an extreme degree of decision biases? The present study used a behavioral-decision approach to examine the susceptibility of low-lethality and high-lethality suicide attempters to common decision biases that may ultimately obscure alternative solutions and deterrents to suicide in a crisis. METHOD: We assessed older and middle-aged (42-97 years) individuals who made high-lethality (medically serious) (n = 31) and low-lethality suicide attempts (n = 29). Comparison groups included suicide ideators (n = 30), nonsuicidal depressed participants (n = 53), and psychiatrically healthy participants (n = 28). Attempters, ideators, and nonsuicidal depressed participants had nonpsychotic major depression (DSM-IV criteria). Decision biases included sunk cost (inability to abort an action for which costs are irrecoverable), framing (responding to superficial features of how a problem is presented), underconfidence/overconfidence (appropriateness of confidence in knowledge), and inconsistent risk perception. Data were collected between June 2010 and February 2014. RESULTS: Both high- and low-lethality attempters were more susceptible to framing effects as compared to the other groups included in this study (P ≤.05, ηp(2) = 0.06). In contrast, low-lethality attempters were more susceptible to sunk costs than both the comparison groups and high-lethality attempters (P ≤.01, ηp(2) = 0.09). These group differences remained after accounting for age, global cognitive performance, and impulsive traits. Premorbid IQ partially explained group differences in framing effects. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide attempters' failure to resist framing may reflect their inability to consider a decision from an objective standpoint in a crisis. Failure of low-lethality attempters to resist sunk cost may reflect their tendency to confuse past and future costs of their behavior, lowering their threshold for acting on suicidal thoughts. Language: en
Irwin P. Levin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Corrigendum: Extending decision making Competence to special populations: a pilot study of persons on the autism spectrum
Frontiers in psychology, 2016Co-Authors: Irwin P. Levin, Gary J. Gaeth, Megan Foley-nicpon, Vitaliya Yegorova, Charles Cederberg, Haoyang YanAbstract:In the original article we discovered that the code for scoring self-endorsement of social norms was inadvertently reversed for the ASD and Control groups. This led to errors in Table 2 and three incorrect statements in the text. In Table 2, the control value for “Self-endorsement of Social norms (0–1)” and the control and t-values for “Difference between self-endorsement and perceived others' endorsement of Social norms (0–1)” were incorrect. A corrected Table 2 is below: In the “Results” section, sub-section “Between-group Comparisons,” the last paragraph should now read: Table Table22 focuses on behavioral and social measures: components of Recognizing Social Norms where for each of a series of socially-undesirable acts, participants rate their personal likelihood of saying it is okay to perform each act and estimate the percentage of their peers who would say it is okay. Overall, participants with ASD, compared to controls, gave comparable personal endorsements of behaviors that violate social norms. They also tended to give lower ratings of others' endorsements of these behaviors but this effect failed to reach statistical significance. At the individual item level, participants in the ASD group gave significantly lower ratings than controls for keeping things that don't belong to you, not holding the door open for someone, not being punctual, and not returning calls. Given that participants in the ASD group were as consistent in self-other judgments as controls, their perceptions of others' undesirable behaviors warrants further study. Table 2 T-test results comparing ASD participants with “controls” on Social Measures. In the “Discussion” section, sub-section “Summary of Key Results” RQ1 should now read: Consistent with theory of mind notions that persons on the autism spectrum have difficulties perceiving social cues, individuals in the ASD group tended to be less likely to perceive others as endorsing undesirable social behaviors. The latter was especially true of those with the poorest social functioning. Interestingly, individuals in the ASD group showed a significantly greater degree of coherence between personal endorsements and perceptions of others.
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Extending decision making Competence to special populations: a pilot study of persons on the autism spectrum.
Frontiers in psychology, 2015Co-Authors: Irwin P. Levin, Gary J. Gaeth, Megan Foley-nicpon, Vitaliya Yegorova, Charles Cederberg, Haoyang YanAbstract:The area of decision making has much to offer in our effort to understand special populations. This pilot study is an example of just such a project, where we illustrate how traditional decision making tools and tasks can be used to uncover strengths and weaknesses within a growing population of young adults with autism. In this pilot project we extended accounts of autistic behavior such as those derived from “theory of mind” to predict key components of decision making in high-functioning young adults on the autism spectrum. A battery of tests was administered to 15 high-functioning college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), focusing on Decision Making Competence (DMC) and other aspects of decision making related to known deficits associated with autism. Data from this group were compared to data from unselected college students receiving the same measures. First, as a test of a key social deficit associated with autism, the target group scored much lower on the Empathy Quotient scale. Traditional elements of decision making competency such as Numeracy and application of decision rules were comparable across groups. However, there were differences in thinking style, with the ASD group showing lesser ability and engagement in intuitive thinking, and they showed lower levels of risk taking. For comparisons within the ASD group, autobiographical reports concerning individual lifestyles and outcomes were used to derive a scale of Social Functioning. The lowest scoring individuals showed the lowest levels of intuitive thinking, the lowest perceived levels of others' endorsement of socially undesirable behaviors, and the lowest ability to discriminate between “good” and “bad” risks. Results are discussed in terms of interventions that might aid high-functioning young adults with ASD in their everyday decision making.
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Preadolescent Decision-Making Competence Predicts Interpersonal Strengths and Difficulties: A 2-Year Prospective Study
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 2014Co-Authors: Joshua A. Weller, Elaine Bossard, Maxwell Moholy, Irwin P. LevinAbstract:Recent research has demonstrated that Decision-Making Competence (DMC), a latent construct reflecting individual differences in rational thought, is predictive of real-world decision outcomes at various stages of life. This construct has been shown to be associated with concurrent and retrospective accounts of health-risking behavior, but its predictive validity has yet to be demonstrated. In the present study, we examine this issue using a 2-year prospective, multiple-informant design. Specifically, we tested the degree to which preadolescent DMC (PA-DMC) obtained at ages 10�11?years (Time 1; N?=?101) predicted both self-reports and caregiver reports of emotional, behavioral, and peer-related difficulties obtained 2?years later (Time 2; N?=?76). Holding variables such as numeracy and inhibitory control constant, lower Time 1 PA-DMC scores predicted greater reported Time 2 psychosocial difficulties (i.e.?peer, conduct, emotional, and hyperactivity/inattention problems). Additionally, higher PA-DMC scores were associated with greater self-reported prosocial behaviors at Time 2. These results highlight the utility of testing individual differences in rational responding. We discuss the potential for improving children's Decision-Making processes.
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Individual Differences in Decision‐making Competence
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 2012Co-Authors: Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Fabio Del Missier, Irwin P. LevinAbstract:Throughout their lives, people make decisions about their health, finances, and environmental impacts. Research on Decision-Making Competence examines the Decision-Making skills people need to improve their real-world decisions and to obtain better life decision outcomes (Bruine de Bruin, Parker, & Fischhoff, 2007; Parker & Fischhoff, 2005). If critical Decision-Making skills can be improved through teaching and decision support, this research ultimately brings the promise of designing interventions that improve the outcomes of people's decisions and, hence, their overall quality of life. In addition to having practical implications, research on Decision-Making Competence contributes important theoretical and methodological insights to the field of judgment and Decision-Making. Theoretically, research on Decision-Making Competence improves our understanding of the cognitive and non-cognitive processes that shape people's ability to make decisions, as well as their development throughout the lifespan (for reviews, see Bruine de Bruin, Parker, & Fischhoff, 2011; Finucane & Lees, 2005; Peters & Bruine de Bruin, in press; Peters, Hess, Auman, & Vastfjall, 2007). Methodologically, research on Decision-Making Competence aims to improve the reliability of commonly studied judgment and decisionmaking tasks, seen in consistent performance across decision problems, as well as their validity, seen in relationships to obtaining better life decision outcomes. Moreover, it stimulates the use of more sophisticated data analysis methods, in particular, model comparison techniques (e.g., Tomlinson, Marewski, & Dougherty, 2011). Despite its potential promise, the topic of individual differences in Decision-Making Competence has received relatively little attention in the field of judgment and Decision-Making. Possibly, this scarcity is due to researchers having traditionally focused on identifying Decision-Making biases, and on the situational conditions rather than the individual differences that contribute to these biases. Furthermore, studying individual differences often requires access to diverse populations that vary in their Decision-Making Competence and life experiences, and the means to recruit samples that are large enough to provide statistical power. Moreover, validating individual-differences measures poses the challenge of identifying objective criterion variables that provide unambiguous evidence of good Decision-Making (Finucane & Lees, 2005; see also Stanovich & West, 2000). Possibly, researchers have also been discouraged by studies on individual differences in Decision-Making styles, which have identified few stable personal characteristics that consistently affect Decision-Making across tasks and contexts (Appelt, Milch, Handgraaf & Weber, 2011). Yet, the few studies that have examined individual differences in Decision-Making Competence have shown the feasibility of overcoming these challenges (Appelbaum & Grisso, 1988; Del Missier, Mantyla & Bruine de Bruin, 2011; Finucane et al., 2002; Finucane & Guillon, 2010; Finucane & Lees, 2005; Finucane, Mertz, Slovic, & Schmidt, 2005; Parker & Fischhoff, 2005; Smith, Shanteau, & Johnson, 2004), with recent work introducing valid and reliable instruments targeting various age groups (Bruine de Bruin et al., 2007; Finucane & Guillon, 2010; Parker & Fischhoff, 2005). This special issue of the Journal of Behavioral Decision-Making aims to swell interest in Decision-Making Competence through the presentation of novel research efforts.
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Assessment of Decision‐making Competence in Preadolescence
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 2011Co-Authors: Joshua A. Weller, Irwin P. Levin, Jason P. Rose, Elaine BossardAbstract:Recent research using late adolescent (18–19 years) and adult samples suggests that within-subject performance on a variety of standard, controlled laboratory tasks reflects a higher-order positive manifold of Decision-Making Competence. The present paper extends this important work by testing whether preadolescent children (10- to 11-year-olds, n = 101) exhibit a similar structural pattern characterizing their Decision-Making performance. Performance on “child-friendly” versions of framing problems, decision matrices, consistency in risk perceptions, and calibration of confidence conformed to a one-factor solution, comparable with that previously found with older populations. Further, individual differences in effortful control, a temperament dimension related to self-regulative executive function, was significantly associated with Decision-Making Competence. Importantly, these measures were predictive of both positive (e.g., completing set goals) and negative behaviors (e.g., missing homework assignments). Results are discussed in terms of the existence of early stable patterns of decision making and rationality and the emergence of systematic individual difference factors in decision making. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Joshua A. Weller - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Developmental trajectory classes in psychological dysregulation predict later Decision-Making Competence.
Addictive behaviors, 2020Co-Authors: Joshua A. Weller, Andrew M. Parker, Maureen Reynolds, Levent KirisciAbstract:Abstract Adolescence and emerging adulthood are developmental periods associated with increased risk taking, including increases in alcohol and substance use and antisocial behaviors. Typical psychological growth from adolescence into early adulthood reflects increases in traits related to psychological regulation (e.g., greater emotional stability and less impulsivity). However, individuals often vary greatly in these developmental trajectories. The current research examines the degree to which differences in developmental trajectories of psychological regulation are associated with Decision-Making skills – i.e., those “needed by normatively competent decision makers” ( Bruine de Bruin et al., 2007 ). In this study, self-regulatory capacities were measured at age 10-12, with follow-up assessments at 14, 16, and 19 years. At age 19, we administered the Youth Decision-Making Competence (DMC) scale. Correlational analyses revealed that lower psychological regulation as early as age 10 was associated with worse DMC scores. A latent class growth mixture model yielded three distinct developmental trajectories of psychological regulation: (a) a Moderate-Stable group, a modal class that demonstrated stable and average regulative tendencies throughout adolescence, (b) a Low-Decreasing group, which demonstrated greater self-regulation throughout childhood, and a (c) High-Increasing group, which demonstrated low self-regulative tendencies at age 10 that became increasingly dysregulated throughout adolescence. Individuals in the Moderate-Stable group and the High-Increasing group demonstrated lower DMC performance than those in the Low-Decreasing group. Our findings also reinforce past work that indicates considerable individual differences in intra-individual change across adolescence, and that even early patterns of psychological dysregulation development can impact later Decision-Making tendencies.
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Accounting for Individual Differences in Decision-Making Competence: Personality and Gender Differences.
Frontiers in psychology, 2018Co-Authors: Joshua A. Weller, Andrea Ceschi, Riccardo Sartori, Lauren A. Hirsch, Arianna CostantiniAbstract:Emerging research has highlighted the utility of measuring individual differences in Decision-Making Competence (DMC), showing that consistently following normatively rational principles is associated with positive psychosocial and health behaviors. From another level of analysis, functional theories of personality suggest that broad trait dimensions represent variation in underlying self-regulatory systems, providing a mechanistic account for robust associations between traits and similar life outcomes. Yet, the degree to which broad dispositional personality dimensions predict global tendencies to respond rationally is less understood. In a large online community sample (N = 804), we tested the associations between HEXACO personality dimensions, a 6-factor structural trait model, and a subset of DMC indicators (Applying Decision Rules, Resistance to Framing, Recognizing Social Norms, and Consistency in Risk Perception). Additionally, we examined gender differences across the DMC, first considering the potential for measurement non-invariance across groups for the DMC. We observed partial measurement invariance between men and women; only the Applying Decision Rules scale showed evidence of differential functioning across groups. Controlling for these differences, analyses revealed that higher Conscientiousness, Honesty/Humility, and Openness were associated with higher DMC scores. In contrast, Emotionality and Extraversion demonstrated gender-specific associations. Specifically, low Extraversion was associated with higher DMC scores for men, whereas higher Emotionality was associated with higher DMC scores for women. Our results suggest that traits related to self-regulatory functions of cognitive and behavioral control, and cognitive flexibility are associated with an increased tendency to engage in rational thought.
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Robustness of Decision‐Making Competence: Evidence from Two Measures and an 11‐Year Longitudinal Study
Journal of behavioral decision making, 2017Co-Authors: Andrew M. Parker, Wändi Bruine De Bruin, Baruch Fischhoff, Joshua A. WellerAbstract:Decision-Making Competence is the ability to follow normative principles when making decisions. In a longitudinal analysis, we examine the robustness of Decision-Making Competence over time, as measured by two batteries of paper-and-pencil tasks. Participants completed the youth version (Y-DMC) at age 19 and/or the adult version (A-DMC) eleven years later at age 30, as part of a larger longitudinal study. Both measures are comprised of tasks adapted from ones used in experimental studies of Decision-Making skills. Results supported the robustness of these measures and the usefulness of the construct. Response patterns for Y-DMC were similar to those observed with a smaller initial sample drawn from the same population. Response patterns for A-DMC were similar to those observed with an earlier community sample. Y-DMC and A-DMC were significantly correlated, for participants who completed both measures, 11 years apart, even after controlling for measures of cognitive ability. Nomological validity was observed in correlations of scores on both tests with measures of cognitive ability, cognitive style, and environmental factors with predicted relationships to Decision-Making Competence, including household SES, neighborhood disadvantage, and paternal substance abuse. Higher Y-DMC and A-DMC scores were also associated with lower rates of potentially risky and antisocial behaviors, including adolescent delinquency, cannabis use, and early sexual behavior. Thus, the Y-DMC and A-DMC measures appear to capture a relatively stable, measurable construct that increases with supportive environmental factors and is associated with constructive behaviors.
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Greater Decision-Making Competence is associated with greater expected-value sensitivity, but not overall risk taking: an examination of concurrent validity
Frontiers in psychology, 2015Co-Authors: Andrew M. Parker, Joshua A. WellerAbstract:Decision-Making Competence reflects individual differences in the susceptibility to Decision-Making errors, measured using tasks common from behavioral decision research (e.g., framing effects, under/overconfidence, following decision rules). Prior research demonstrates that those with higher Decision-Making Competence report lower incidence of health-risking and antisocial behaviors, but there has been less focus on intermediate mechanisms that may impact real-world decisions, and, in particular, those implicated by normative models. Here we test the associations between measures of youth Decision-Making Competence (Y-DMC) and one such mechanism, the degree to which individuals make choices consistent with maximizing expected value (EV). Using a task involving hypothetical gambles, we find that greater EV sensitivity is associated with greater Y-DMC. Higher Y-DMC scores are associated with (a) choosing risky options when expected value favors those options and (b) avoiding risky options when expected value favors a certain option. This relationship is stronger for gambles that involved potential losses. The results suggest that Y-DMC captures decision processes consistent with standard normative evaluations of risky decisions.
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Decision-Making Competence predicts domain-specific risk attitudes
Frontiers in psychology, 2015Co-Authors: Joshua A. Weller, Andrea Ceschi, Caleb RandolphAbstract:Decision Making Competence (DMC) reflects individual differences in rational responding across several classic behavioral Decision-Making tasks. Although it has been associated with real-world risk behavior, less is known about the degree to which DMC contributes to specific components of risk attitudes. Utilizing a psychological risk-return framework, we examined the associations between risk attitudes and DMC. Italian community residents (n = 804) completed an online DMC measure, using a subset of the original Adult-DMC battery (A-DMC; Bruine de Bruin, Parker, & Fischhoff, 2007). Participants also completed a self-reported risk attitude measure for three components of risk attitudes (risk-taking, risk perceptions, and expected benefits) across six risk domains. Overall, greater performance on the DMC component scales were inversely, albeit modestly, associated with risk-taking tendencies. Structural equation modeling results revealed that DMC was associated with lower perceived expected benefits for all domains. In contrast, its association with perceived risks was more domain-specific. These analyses also revealed stronger indirect effects for the DMC expected benefits risk-taking than the DMC perceived risk risk-taking path, especially for risk behaviors that may be considered more antisocial in nature. These results suggest that DMC performance differentially impacts specific components of risk attitudes, and may be more strongly related to the evaluation of expected value of the given behavior.
