Decision-making on an explicit risk-taking task in children and adolescents with high intellectual abilities: a neuropsychological perspective

Abstract

Objective: Two processing pathways have been described in explicit risk decision-making tasks: an emotional and a cognitive feedback pathway. The objective of the study was to examine decision-making on an explicit risk-taking task in children and adolescents with high intellectual abilities compared with a control group typical development and to determine whether their execution is similar or different. Methods: This study explores differences in quality of decision making between gifted (n = 28) and average intellectual ability (n = 37) students of two different age groups (children vs. adolescents). Groups were compared using the scores obtained in the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). Results: Results show that gifted students displayed better decision making as evidenced by higher cognitive self-control to postpone immediate rewards and quality ofdecision when compared to the control group. Deliberation time in gifted was fasterin the adolescent group and slower in the child group. Conclusion: This finding suggests developmental influences that need to be considered to explain the effects of the G factor in decision making skills. Procedures helpto reflect upon the contribution of controlled cognitive tasks in elucidating abilitie srelated to general intelligence. Neuropsychological basis of decision-making is briefly discussed.