Managing risk is an integral part of life. Whereas risk-taking is sometimes construed as only “bad” (e.g., drug use) or “good” (e.g., investing), the present research focuses on “optimal risk-taking.” In economic settings, optimal risk on an exceedingly large number of repeated wagers can be computed using Kelly’s Formula (Kelly, 1956). We tested whether individual differences in cognitive abilities (fluid intelligence and working memory) and emotion-related traits (behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation system sensitivity) predict learning to take optimal risks in an investment paradigm. Participants first completed a Learning Phase in which they received explicit feedback on what the optimal wager was for each of a series of gambling opportunities. Next, they completed a Test Phase where they were asked to transfer the information from the Learning Phase to predict the optimal wager on a new set of gambling opportunities (not taught during the Learning Phase). Last, with this second set of gambling opportunities, they were asked to manage a bankroll and place wagers in a Gambling Phase. During the Learning Phase, we found that participants with greater cognitive resources (fluid intelligence and working memory) and behavioral activation system (BAS) strength learned faster. During the Test Phase, participants generally struggled to transfer this learning to novel (unlearned) opportunities and often assumed too little risk. Those with higher working memory capacities showed the best transfer of learning. During the Gambling Phase, we found that those high in BAS were less prone to the error of assuming too little risk when managing a bankroll. Thus, cognitive resources and BAS appear to be important predictors for who is best able to both learn and utilize optimal risk taking.

管理风险是生活中不可或缺的一部分。尽管冒险有时有时仅被解释为“不良”（例如，吸毒）或“良好”（例如，投资），但本研究着眼于“最佳冒险”。在经济环境中，可以使用凯利公式（Kelly，1956）计算出大量重复下注的最佳风险。我们测试了认知能力（流体智力和工作记忆）以及与情感相关的特征（行为抑制和行为激活系统敏感性）方面的个体差异是否可以预测学习在投资范式中承担最佳风险。参与者首先完成了学习阶段，在该阶段中，他们收到了有关一系列赌博机会中的最佳赌注的明确反馈。下一个，他们完成了一个测试阶段，在该阶段中，他们被要求从学习阶段转移信息，以预测新的赌博机会（在学习阶段未教授）的最佳赌注。最后，在第二组赌博机会中，他们被要求管理资金并将赌注置于赌博阶段。在学习阶段，我们发现具有更大认知资源（流体智力和工作记忆）和行为激活系统（BAS）强度的参与者学习得更快。在测试阶段，参与者通常很难将这种学习转移到新颖的（未学习的）机会中，并且通常承担的风险很小。具有较高工作记忆能力的人表现出最好的学习转移。在赌博阶段，我们发现，那些BAS较高的人不太容易在管理资金时承担过低风险的错误。因此，对于谁最有能力学习和利用最佳冒险精神，认知资源和BAS似乎是重要的预测指标。