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dc.contributor.authorSteelandt, Sophie
dc.contributor.authorBroihanne, Marie-Helene
dc.contributor.authorRomain, Amelie
dc.contributor.authorThierry, Bernard
dc.contributor.authorDufour, Valerie
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-21T11:31:02Z
dc.date.available2014-07-21T11:31:02Z
dc.date.issued2013-01-09
dc.identifier134136196
dc.identifier273bb08c-58f5-4533-8d2a-bd63f7145b63
dc.identifier000313551500011
dc.identifier84872254704
dc.identifier.citationSteelandt , S , Broihanne , M-H , Romain , A , Thierry , B & Dufour , V 2013 , ' Decision-making under risk of loss in children ' , PLoS One , vol. 8 , no. 1 , e52316 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052316en
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/5046
dc.descriptionThe research was supported by a grant from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-08-412 BLAN-0042-01)en
dc.description.abstractIn human adults, judgment errors are known to often lead to irrational decision-making in risky contexts. While these errors can affect the accuracy of profit evaluation, they may have once enhanced survival in dangerous contexts following a "better be safe than sorry" rule of thumb. Such a rule can be critical for children, and it could develop early on. Here, we investigated the rationality of choices and the possible occurrence of judgment errors in children aged 3 to 9 years when exposed to a risky trade. Children were allocated with a piece of cookie that they could either keep or risk in exchange of the content of one cup among 6, visible in front of them. In the cups, cookies could be of larger, equal or smaller sizes than the initial allocation. Chances of losing or winning were manipulated by presenting different combinations of cookie sizes in the cups (for example 3 large, 2 equal and 1 small cookie). We investigated the rationality of children's response using the theoretical models of Expected Utility Theory (EUT) and Cumulative Prospect Theory. Children aged 3 to 4 years old were unable to discriminate the profitability of exchanging in the different combinations. From 5 years, children were better at maximizing their benefit in each combination, their decisions were negatively induced by the probability of losing, and they exhibited a framing effect, a judgment error found in adults. Confronting data to the EUT indicated that children aged over 5 were risk-seekers but also revealed inconsistencies in their choices. According to a complementary model, the Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT), they exhibited loss aversion, a pattern also found in adults. These findings confirm that adult-like judgment errors occur in children, which suggests that they possess a survival value.
dc.format.extent10
dc.format.extent442053
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofPLoS Oneen
dc.subjectProbability weighting functionen
dc.subjectExpected valueen
dc.subjectGambling tasken
dc.subjectPreferencesen
dc.subjectGratificationen
dc.subjectUncertaintyen
dc.subjectPsychologyen
dc.subjectJudgmentsen
dc.subjectAdultsen
dc.subjectGainsen
dc.subjectBF Psychologyen
dc.subject.lccBFen
dc.titleDecision-making under risk of loss in childrenen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscienceen
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0052316
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden


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