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Decomposing decision-making in preschoolers: Making decisions under ambiguity versus risk

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  • Nancy Garon
  • Ellen Doucet
  • Bronwyn Inness

Abstract

Decision-making in the real world involves multiple abilities. The main goal of the current study was to examine the abilities underlying the Preschool Gambling task (PGT), a preschool variant of the Iowa Gambling task (IGT), in the context of an integrative decision-making framework. Preschoolers (n = 144) were given the PGT along with four novel decision-making tasks assessing either decision-making under ambiguity or decision-making under risk. Results indicated that the ability to learn from feedback, to maintain a stable preference, and to integrate losses and gains contributed to the variance in decision-making on the PGT. Furthermore, children’s awareness level on the PGT contributed additional variance, suggesting both implicit and explicit processes are involved. The results partially support the integrative decision-making framework and suggest that multiple abilities contribute to individual differences in decision-making on the PGT.

Suggested Citation

  • Nancy Garon & Ellen Doucet & Bronwyn Inness, 2024. "Decomposing decision-making in preschoolers: Making decisions under ambiguity versus risk," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(9), pages 1-31, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0311295
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311295
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