Adult age differences in decision making across domains: Increased discounting of social and health-related rewards. 2016

Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
Department of Psychology, Yale University.

Although research on aging and decision making continues to grow, the majority of studies examine decisions made to maximize monetary earnings or points. It is not clear whether these results generalize to other types of rewards. To investigate this, we examined adult age differences in 92 healthy participants aged 22 to 83. Participants completed 9 hypothetical discounting tasks, which included 3 types of discounting factors (time, probability, effort) across 3 reward domains (monetary, social, health). Participants made choices between a smaller magnitude reward with a shorter time delay/higher probability/lower level of physical effort required and a larger magnitude reward with a longer time delay/lower probability/higher level of physical effort required. Older compared with younger individuals were more likely to choose options that involved shorter time delays or higher probabilities of experiencing an interaction with a close social partner or receiving health benefits from a hypothetical drug. These findings suggest that older adults may be more motivated than young adults to obtain social and health rewards immediately and with certainty. (PsycINFO Database Record

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D003657 Decision Making The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea. Credit Assignment,Assignment, Credit,Assignments, Credit,Credit Assignments
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000367 Age Factors Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time. Age Reporting,Age Factor,Factor, Age,Factors, Age
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D000369 Aged, 80 and over Persons 80 years of age and older. Oldest Old
D000375 Aging The gradual irreversible changes in structure and function of an organism that occur as a result of the passage of time. Senescence,Aging, Biological,Biological Aging

Related Publications

Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
September 2018, Psychology and aging,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
May 1999, Behavioural processes,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
May 2013, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
May 2012, International psychogeriatrics,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
February 2024, Current opinion in psychology,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
March 2017, Journal of aging and health,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
May 2023, Psychology and aging,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
January 2020, Frontiers in aging neuroscience,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
August 2014, Nature reviews. Neuroscience,
Kendra L Seaman, and Marissa A Gorlick, and Kruti M Vekaria, and Ming Hsu, and David H Zald, and Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
January 2024, Scientific reports,
Copied contents to your clipboard!