ERIC Number: EJ735376
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Oct
Pages: 19
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0033-295X
EISSN: N/A
Modeling Behavior in a Clinically Diagnostic Sequential Risk-Taking Task
Wallsten, Thomas S.; Pleskac, Timothy J.; Lejuez, C. W.
Psychological Review, v112 n4 p862-880 Oct 2005
This article models the cognitive processes underlying learning and sequential choice in a risk-taking task for the purposes of understanding how they occur in this moderately complex environment and how behavior in it relates to self-reported real-world risk taking. The best stochastic model assumes that participants incorrectly treat outcome probabilities as stationary, update probabilities in a Bayesian fashion, evaluate choice policies prior to rather than during responding, and maintain constant response sensitivity. The model parameter associated with subjective value of gains correlates well with external risk taking. Both the overall approach, which can be expanded as the basic paradigm is varied, and the specific results provide direction for theories of risky choice and for understanding risk taking as a public health problem.
Descriptors: Modeling (Psychology), Probability, Cognitive Processes, Adolescents, Public Health, Clinical Diagnosis, Risk, Task Analysis, Sequential Learning
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A