Decision Making in Children and Adolescents: Impaired Iowa Gambling Task Performance in Early Adolescence
Decision Making in Children and Adolescents: Impaired Iowa Gambling Task Performance in Early Adolescence
复制标题
DOI：
10.1037/a0026342
复制
发表时间：
2012-07-01
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Bechara, Antoine
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Smith, Dana G.;Xiao, Lin;Bechara, Antoine
不利的决策被认为是儿童发展的首要问题之一，它是潜在的危险行为，并导致青少年做出错误的选择，这些选择可能对以后的生活有害。然而，关注儿童和青少年决策能力发展的研究相对较少，将其与更典型的认知功能发展的表现轨迹进行比较的研究也较少。在当前的研究中，我们使用爱荷华州赌博任务（IGT；Bechara，2007）结合一系列已建立的认知神经心理学评估来测量 8 至 17 岁儿童和青少年的情感决策能力。与执行功能的典型线性发展相反，情感决策能力以 J 形曲线发展。年龄较小、发育尚未成熟的儿童在 IGT 上的表现比年龄较大、青春期早期的儿童更好，并且在青少年时期末期，表现再次变得有利。这种轨迹被认为与青少年早期的不对称神经发育相一致，相对过度活跃的纹状体区域会产生冲动的奖励驱动反应，而这种反应可能不受发育较慢的抑制性额叶皮层的抑制。这一轨迹与多年来记忆、处理速度和其他认知能力的线性发展形成鲜明对比。
Disadvantageous decision making is cited as one of the premier problems in childhood development, underlying risky behavior and causing adolescents to make poor choices that could prove detrimental later in life. However, there are relatively few studies looking at the development of decision making in children and adolescents, and fewer still comparing it with the performance trajectories of more typically developing cognitive functions. In the current study, we measured the affective decision-making abilities of children and adolescents 8- to 17-years-old using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, 2007) in conjunction with a battery of established cognitive neuropsychological assessments. In contrast to the typical linear development of executive functions, affective decision-making abilities progressed in a J-shaped curve. Younger, more developmentally naive children performed better on the IGT than older, early-adolescent individuals, with performance becoming advantageous again toward the end of the teenage years. This trajectory is thought to coincide with asymmetric neural development in early adolescents, with relatively overactive striatal regions creating impulsive reward-driven responses that may go unchecked by the slower developing inhibitive frontal cortex. This trajectory is in stark contrast with the linear development of memory, speed of processing, and other cognitive abilities over the ages.