Older adults' decision-making following bad advice

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Gerontology

Background:

• Limited research exists on how advice influences decision-making in older adults.
• Decision-making abilities can change with age, but the impact of external advice remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of different types of detrimental advice on decision-making in young and older adults.
• To compare decision-making performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) between age groups under various advice conditions.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-four older adults and 59 young adults participated.
• Participants completed the IGT after receiving no advice, or advice favoring disadvantageous decks (Deck A: small, frequent losses; Deck B: large, infrequent losses).
• Corrugator electromyography (EMG), memory, and fluid intelligence were assessed.

Main Results:

• Older adults made more disadvantageous selections than young adults overall.
• No age differences were found in response to bad advice or in learning to avoid Deck A.
• Learning to avoid Deck B (infrequent losses) was slower for both age groups and linked to lower education in older adults and lower fluid intelligence in younger adults.

Conclusions:

• Older adults exhibit more disadvantageous decision-making than younger adults, a tendency not amplified by bad advice.
• Both age groups show difficulty in learning to avoid choices with infrequent but larger losses.
• Individual cognitive differences, such as education and fluid intelligence, may influence decision-making strategies in specific contexts.