Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions
Abstract Empirical evidence has shown that visually enhancing the saliency of reward probabilities can ease the cognitive demands of value comparisons and improve value-based decisions in old age. In the present study, we used a time-varying drift diffusion model that includes starting time paramete...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15432-y |
| _version_ | 1811224051121651712 |
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| author | Hsiang-Yu Chen Gaia Lombardi Shu-Chen Li Todd A. Hare |
| author_facet | Hsiang-Yu Chen Gaia Lombardi Shu-Chen Li Todd A. Hare |
| author_sort | Hsiang-Yu Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Empirical evidence has shown that visually enhancing the saliency of reward probabilities can ease the cognitive demands of value comparisons and improve value-based decisions in old age. In the present study, we used a time-varying drift diffusion model that includes starting time parameters to better understand (1) how increasing the saliency of reward probabilities may affect the dynamics of value-based decision-making and (2) how these effects may interact with age. We examined choices made by younger and older adults in a mixed lottery choice task. On a subset of trials, we used a color-coding scheme to highlight the saliency of reward probabilities, which served as a decision-aid. The results showed that, in control trials, older adults started to consider probability relative to magnitude information sooner than younger adults, but that their evidence accumulation processes were less sensitive to reward probabilities than that of younger adults. This may indicate a noisier and more stochastic information accumulation process during value-based decisions in old age. The decision-aid increased the influence of probability information on evidence accumulation rates in both age groups, but did not alter the relative timing of accumulation for probability versus magnitude in either group. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:42:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-203ec7ccfc3a4533a9eac8739ba9bf41 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:42:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-203ec7ccfc3a4533a9eac8739ba9bf412022-12-22T03:39:48ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-07-0112111210.1038/s41598-022-15432-yOlder adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisionsHsiang-Yu Chen0Gaia Lombardi1Shu-Chen Li2Todd A. Hare3Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDepartment of Economics, Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, University of ZurichChair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDepartment of Economics, Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, University of ZurichAbstract Empirical evidence has shown that visually enhancing the saliency of reward probabilities can ease the cognitive demands of value comparisons and improve value-based decisions in old age. In the present study, we used a time-varying drift diffusion model that includes starting time parameters to better understand (1) how increasing the saliency of reward probabilities may affect the dynamics of value-based decision-making and (2) how these effects may interact with age. We examined choices made by younger and older adults in a mixed lottery choice task. On a subset of trials, we used a color-coding scheme to highlight the saliency of reward probabilities, which served as a decision-aid. The results showed that, in control trials, older adults started to consider probability relative to magnitude information sooner than younger adults, but that their evidence accumulation processes were less sensitive to reward probabilities than that of younger adults. This may indicate a noisier and more stochastic information accumulation process during value-based decisions in old age. The decision-aid increased the influence of probability information on evidence accumulation rates in both age groups, but did not alter the relative timing of accumulation for probability versus magnitude in either group.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15432-y |
| spellingShingle | Hsiang-Yu Chen Gaia Lombardi Shu-Chen Li Todd A. Hare Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions Scientific Reports |
| title | Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions |
| title_full | Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions |
| title_fullStr | Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions |
| title_short | Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions |
| title_sort | older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15432-y |
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