Decision-making in disinhibited adolescents and adults: insensitivity to future consequences or driven by immediate reward?

This study examined the effects of cognitive and behavioural disinhibition on real life decision-making in three different age groups (young adults, 15-16 year-olds and 12-13 year-olds). The Disinhibition-scale of Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale was used to differentiate between low vs. high in cognitive disinhibition and the Matching Familiar Figures Test (Kagan et al., 1964) was used to obtain an index of behavioural inhibition. All participants completed two versions of an experimental analogue of the Iowa Card Gambling Task. In the standard version rewards were placed up front and punishments were delayed and this schedule was reversed in the other version. The results showed impaired performance of cognitively disinhibited individuals but only on the standard task, not on the reversed gambling task. Performance increased with age on both tasks. Behavioural inhibition failed to influence performance on both versions of the gambling task. These findings were interpreted to suggest that (1) real-life decision-making is intact in cognitively disinhibited individuals, and (2) the age-related increase in real life decision-making cannot be attributed to developmental changes in cognitive disinhibition. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.