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Development and Validation of a New Risk-Taking Game: Helsinki Aiming Task (HAT)

  • 0Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Behavioral Sciences (basel, Switzerland) +

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November 27, 2025

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November 27, 2025

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

We developed the Helsinki Aiming Task (HAT), a new game to measure behavioral risk-taking. HAT effectively assesses how individuals respond to penalties and rewards, offering insights into decision-making.

Area Of Science

  • Behavioral economics
  • Psychological assessment
  • Decision science

Background

  • Risk-taking behavior is crucial in decision-making.
  • Existing measures may not capture fine-grained responses to immediate outcomes.
  • A novel tool is needed to assess sensitivity to penalties and rewards.

Purpose Of The Study

  • Introduce and validate the Helsinki Aiming Task (HAT), a new game for measuring risk-taking.
  • Examine HAT's construct validity and convergent validity with other measures.
  • Assess HAT's ability to capture responses to varying penalty levels and "gun" inaccuracy.

Main Methods

  • Developed HAT, a shooting game with adjustable "gun" inaccuracy and penalty levels.
  • Conducted four studies (N=188 total) involving HAT performance, comparisons with Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), and self-report measures.
  • Analyzed risk-taking indicators (aiming point, accrued penalties) and sensitivity to reward/punishment.

Main Results

  • Participants in HAT adjusted their behavior (became more cautious) with increased penalties and inaccuracy.
  • HAT risk indicators showed weak correlation with BART but strong association with self-reported risk-taking.
  • HAT's measure of reinforcement sensitivity explained self-reported risk-taking better than BART.

Conclusions

  • HAT is a valid new tool for measuring behavioral risk-taking, particularly responses to immediate positive and negative outcomes.
  • HAT provides a nuanced assessment of reward and punishment sensitivity in decision-making.
  • HAT offers a valuable alternative or complement to existing risk assessment methods like BART.

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