Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults
Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is one of the most widely used tools to assess economic decision-making. However, the research tradition on aging and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has been mainly focused on the overall performance of older adults in relation to younger or clinical groups, remaining unclear...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01785/full |
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| author | Rita Pasion Rita Pasion Ana R. Gonçalves Carina Fernandes Carina Fernandes Fernando Ferreira-Santos Fernando Barbosa João Marques-Teixeira |
| author_facet | Rita Pasion Rita Pasion Ana R. Gonçalves Carina Fernandes Carina Fernandes Fernando Ferreira-Santos Fernando Barbosa João Marques-Teixeira |
| author_sort | Rita Pasion |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is one of the most widely used tools to assess economic decision-making. However, the research tradition on aging and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has been mainly focused on the overall performance of older adults in relation to younger or clinical groups, remaining unclear whether older adults are capable of learning along the task. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine older adults' decision-making on the IGT, to test the effects of aging on reversal learning (45 studies) and to provide normative data on total and block net scores (55 studies). From the accumulated empirical evidence, we found an average total net score of 7.55 (±25.9). We also observed a significant reversal learning effect along the blocks of the IGT, indicating that older adults inhibit the prepotent response toward immediately attractive options associated with high losses, in favor of initially less attractive options associated with long-run profit. During block 1, decisions of older adults led to a negative gambling net score, reflecting the expected initial pattern of risk-taking. However, the shift toward more safe options occurred between block 2 (small-to-medium effect size) and blocks 3, 4, 5 (medium-to-large effect size). These main findings highlight that older adults are able to move from the initial uncertainty, when the possible outcomes are unknown, to decisions based on risk, when the outcomes are learned and may be used to guide future adaptive decision-making. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:34:44Z |
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| id | doaj.art-8564be59a5c8411cbe391b56a93a3518 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:34:44Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8564be59a5c8411cbe391b56a93a35182022-12-22T03:31:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782017-10-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.01785298425Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older AdultsRita Pasion0Rita Pasion1Ana R. Gonçalves2Carina Fernandes3Carina Fernandes4Fernando Ferreira-Santos5Fernando Barbosa6João Marques-Teixeira7Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalCatólica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, PortugalLaboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalLaboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalFaculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalLaboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalLaboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalLaboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalIowa Gambling Task (IGT) is one of the most widely used tools to assess economic decision-making. However, the research tradition on aging and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has been mainly focused on the overall performance of older adults in relation to younger or clinical groups, remaining unclear whether older adults are capable of learning along the task. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine older adults' decision-making on the IGT, to test the effects of aging on reversal learning (45 studies) and to provide normative data on total and block net scores (55 studies). From the accumulated empirical evidence, we found an average total net score of 7.55 (±25.9). We also observed a significant reversal learning effect along the blocks of the IGT, indicating that older adults inhibit the prepotent response toward immediately attractive options associated with high losses, in favor of initially less attractive options associated with long-run profit. During block 1, decisions of older adults led to a negative gambling net score, reflecting the expected initial pattern of risk-taking. However, the shift toward more safe options occurred between block 2 (small-to-medium effect size) and blocks 3, 4, 5 (medium-to-large effect size). These main findings highlight that older adults are able to move from the initial uncertainty, when the possible outcomes are unknown, to decisions based on risk, when the outcomes are learned and may be used to guide future adaptive decision-making.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01785/fullIowa Gambling Taskdecision-makingriskuncertaintyagingolder adults |
| spellingShingle | Rita Pasion Rita Pasion Ana R. Gonçalves Carina Fernandes Carina Fernandes Fernando Ferreira-Santos Fernando Barbosa João Marques-Teixeira Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults Frontiers in Psychology Iowa Gambling Task decision-making risk uncertainty aging older adults |
| title | Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults |
| title_full | Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults |
| title_fullStr | Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults |
| title_short | Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Reversal Learning Effect on the Iowa Gambling Task in Older Adults |
| title_sort | meta analytic evidence for a reversal learning effect on the iowa gambling task in older adults |
| topic | Iowa Gambling Task decision-making risk uncertainty aging older adults |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01785/full |
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