The research proposed here will build onto previous research by the present investigators and others to help us gain a better understanding of how children make decisions. We focus on risky decision making because excessive risk-taking behavior by pre-adolescents and adolescents can be a cause of societal problems in areas such as addiction, traffic safety, and unprotected sex. We have developed techniques for measuring decision making competence through controlled experimental tasks and we use these to compare decisions made by children of different ages and adults. For example, we showed that the ability to take into account the possible outcomes of a risky choice and their likelihoods increases with age. At the heart of the proposed research is a longitudinal study in which we measure at various points in time individual differences in decision making competence among a group of pre-adolescents. We expect steady increases in competence over a 3-year period but will be able to identify profiles of "at risk" children and track how their deficits affect decisions made in their everyday lives. There is potential here for identifying specific components of decision making for those most at risk for maladaptive behavior, such as lack of attention to risk levels or unwillingness to factor in long-term consequences. These factors can then be isolated for further study to determine the extent to which they can be changed through feedback and experience for any given child.
