ERIC Number: EJ730487
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Jun
Pages: 10
Abstractor: Author
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-2626
Development of "'Hot" Executive Function: The Children's Gambling Task
Kerr, Aurora; Zelazo, Philip David
Brain and Cognition, v55 n1 p148-157 Jun 2004
Development of affective decision-making was studied in 48 children at two ages (3 and 4 years) using a simplified version of the Iowa Gambling Task (Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994). On each of 50 trials, children chose from 1 of 2 decks of cards that, when turned, displayed happy and sad faces, corresponding to rewards (candies) won and lost, respectively. Cards in 1 deck offered more rewards per trial, but were disadvantageous across trials due to occasional large losses; cards in the other deck offered fewer rewards per trial, but were advantageous overall. On later trials, 4-year-olds made more advantageous choices than 3-year-olds, and 4-year-olds made more advantageous choices than would be expected by chance, whereas 3-year-olds made more disadvantageous choices than would be expected by chance. These findings, which were especially pronounced for girls, indicate that affective decision-making develops rapidly during the preschool period, possibly reflecting the growth of neural systems involving orbitofrontal cortex.
Descriptors: Rewards, Decision Making, Young Children, Gender Differences, Age Differences, Brain, Games, Affective Behavior
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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