Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


RZ_MasterThesis_formatted.pdf (1.76 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

A Comparison of Three Behavioral Tasks That Measure Risk Taking Propensity

Zhou, Ran
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1502896345683948

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Risk taking propensity is a general personality disposition that is associated with many neuropsychiatric disorders such as substance use and addiction. Many approaches have been developed to assess this construct. In this project, I focus on three behavioral tasks that are common used by clinical and cognitive psychologists: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART; Lejuez et al., 2002), and two conditions of the Angling Risk Task (ART; Pleskac, 2008), namely the cloudy day ART and sunny day ART. The latter tasks were initially developed to address some limitations found with BART using a similar setup, but they differ in some noteworthy aspects. It is unclear whether the three tasks measure the same or different cognitive processes, which task is better, whether learning in the task affects task validity, and whether there are other factors influencing task validity and reliability. Two experiments were conducted to answer these questions. The first experiment compared these three tasks, including behavioral measures, model parameter estimates, and three self-report methods in risk-related domains: impulsivity, sensation seeking and past drug use. The second experiment compared a standard design of the sunny day ART with ADO design, an algorithm that alters the losing probability in the task to find the optimal design. The results from the first experiment show that these tasks are associated with distinct cognitive processes, among which the sunny day ART shows the strongest validity. Combing the two experiments, the results also reveal that learning in the task does not affect task validity as much as losing probability does, and researchers could alter the losing probabilities in these tasks to change task validity and the usefulness of model parameter estimates.
Mark Pitt (Advisor)
Jay Myung (Advisor)
Woo-Young Ahn (Committee Member)
96 p.
Psychology
behavioral tasks; risk taking propensity

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zhou, R. (2017). A Comparison of Three Behavioral Tasks That Measure Risk Taking Propensity [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1502896345683948

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zhou, Ran. A Comparison of Three Behavioral Tasks That Measure Risk Taking Propensity. 2017. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1502896345683948.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zhou, Ran. "A Comparison of Three Behavioral Tasks That Measure Risk Taking Propensity." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1502896345683948

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1502896345683948
2,329
© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.