ABSTRACT

Introduction: Previous research has suggested that individual differences in executive functions, memory and reinforcement sensitivity are associated with performance on behavioral decision-making tasks. Decision-making performance may also decline with age, however there is a lack of research on the interplay of cognitive and affective processes, and their impact on older adult decision-making. This study examined associations between executive functions, memory and reinforcement sensitivity on the Game of Dice Task (a measure of decision-making under explicit risk) among older adults.

Method: One thousand and two older adults without cognitive impairment (aged 72–78 years) participated as part of an Australian longitudinal cohort study (the Personality and Total Health Through Life study). Decision-making sub-types were identified through cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression was used to assess associations with measures of cognition and reinforcement sensitivity.

Results: Cluster analysis identified three decision-making sub-types, which we label “advantageous,” “disadvantageous” and “switching.” Multivariate analyses found that relative to the mid-performing “switching” sub-type, advantageous decision-makers were more likely to be younger, male and have higher scores on a test of verbal learning. Disadvantageous decision-makers were more likely to have poorer scores on some components of executive function (set shifting, but not working memory or inhibitory control), although this effect was partly attenuated by a measure of reinforcement sensitivity (reward responsiveness).

Conclusion: These results indicate that specific components of learning and executive functions are influential in decision-making under explicit risk among a sample of older adults.

摘要

简介：先前的研究表明，执行功能、记忆力和强化敏感性的个体差异与行为决策任务的表现有关。决策能力也可能随着年龄的增长而下降，但缺乏关于认知和情感过程的相互作用及其对老年人决策的影响的研究。这项研究检查了老年人执行功能、记忆和强化敏感性之间的关联，在骰子游戏任务（一种在显性风险下进行决策的衡量标准）。

方法：一千零两名没有认知障碍的老年人（72-78 岁）参与了澳大利亚纵向队列研究（人格和终生总健康研究）的一部分。通过聚类分析确定决策子类型，并使用多项逻辑回归来评估与认知和强化敏感性测量的关联。

结果：聚类分析确定了三种决策子类型，我们将其标记为“有利”、“不利”和“转换”。多变量分析发现，相对于表现中等的“转换”子类型，有利的决策者更有可能是更年轻的男性，并且在口头学习测试中得分更高。处于不利地位的决策者更有可能在执行功能的某些组成部分（设置转换，但不是工作记忆或抑制控制）上得分较低，尽管这种影响被强化敏感性（奖励反应性）的测量部分减弱。

结论：这些结果表明，学习和执行功能的特定组成部分对老年人样本中显性风险下的决策有影响。