Promoting Rational Risk Engagement Through Feedback in a Gambling-Analog Learning Environment: A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Economics
• Educational Technology

Background:

• Increased youth exposure to gambling and digital environments necessitates promoting rational risk decision-making.
• There is a need for preventative strategies to help young adults navigate uncertainty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if immediate feedback in a gambling-analog simulation improves calibrated participation and performance under uncertainty.
• To assess the impact of feedback on decision-making processes in undergraduate students.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving undergraduate students assigned to either an informed (with feedback) or uninformed (without feedback) condition.
• Participants engaged in repeated rounds of a gambling-analog simulation, making opt-in/opt-out decisions and completing probability tasks.
• Data collected focused on participation variability, task accuracy, performance, and decision-making time.

Main Results:

• Participants receiving immediate feedback showed reduced variability in participation, indicating more consistent risk engagement.
• The informed group demonstrated higher accuracy and overall performance on attempted tasks.
• Improvements in performance were achieved without an increase in decision or problem-solving time.

Conclusions:

• Immediate feedback in gambling-analog simulations may foster calibrated risk engagement in educational settings.
• Feedback-driven simulations show potential as a tool for promoting rational decision-making under uncertainty.
• Further research with larger samples and longitudinal designs is warranted to confirm these preliminary findings.