Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2019 Jun;37:100652. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100652. Epub 2019 Apr 30.
Decision making requires consideration of both the benefits of a given choice and the costs, which can include risk, delay, and effort. Previous research has examined the developmental trajectory of adolescent decision making regarding risk and delay; however, the effects of effort on adolescent decision making remain largely unexplored. In the present study, we pilot tested a novel, developmentally-appropriate task designed to examine developmental differences in the willingness to expend effort during goal pursuit in adolescents (ages 13-16, n = 23) versus young adults (ages 18-23, n = 25). Self-reported reward responsivity correlated with task-related parameter estimates for effort and reward, providing evidence of task validity. Adolescents exhibited reduced sensitivity to physical effort costs compared to adults, effects which did not appear to be driven by differences in subjective task motivation or awareness of the effort requirements. These findings provide preliminary evidence that adolescence may be a time of increased willingness to expend effort during goal pursuit. Effort-based decision making is an understudied but exciting avenue for developmental research, as the willingness to engage in effortful pursuit of new experiences during adolescence may help to facilitate the path to independence.
决策需要考虑给定选择的收益和成本，其中包括风险、延迟和努力。先前的研究已经考察了青少年在风险和延迟方面的决策制定的发展轨迹；然而，努力对青少年决策制定的影响在很大程度上仍未得到探索。在本研究中，我们对一项新的、适合发展的任务进行了试点测试，该任务旨在考察青少年（13-16 岁，n=23）与年轻成年人（18-23 岁，n=25）在追求目标过程中愿意付出努力的发展差异。自我报告的奖励反应与任务相关的努力和奖励参数估计相关，提供了任务有效性的证据。与成年人相比，青少年对身体努力成本的敏感性降低，这些影响似乎不是由主观任务动机或对努力要求的意识的差异驱动的。这些发现初步表明，青少年在追求目标的过程中可能更愿意付出努力。基于努力的决策制定是发展研究中一个未被充分研究但令人兴奋的领域，因为在青少年时期愿意付出努力去追求新的体验，可能有助于他们走向独立。
