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 of decision when compared to the control group. Deliberation time in gifted was faster in 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 help to reflect upon the contribution of controlled cognitive tasks in elucidating abilities related to general intelligence. Neuropsychological basis of decision-making is briefly discussed.