Investigators
Alan M. Garber (Principal Mentor) - Stanford University
Brian Knutson - Stanford University
Gregory Larkin

"Ambiguity aversion" occurs when people prefer making no choice at all to making an ambiguous risky choice, even if the ambiguous choice holds higher expected value. Behavioral evidence suggests that a majority of individuals show some degree of ambiguity aversion, and older adults may be especially prone to this bias, which could have specific consequences for healthcare decisions.

In this project, researchers will examine ambiguity aversion in young and old adults using a standard experimental "Ellsberg Paradox" task as well as a more generalizable healthcare decision-making task. The researchers hypothesize that older adults will show increased ambiguity aversion in these tasks, and ultimately aim to develop the tasks for subsequent neuroimaging research. The study findings promise to inform the construction of decision-making institutions that minimize ambiguously risky choices, thereby optimizing the choices of young and old alike.

This study is a seed project for the Center on Advancing Decision Making for Aging.

Contact
Sarah Songer

Funding provided by
• National Insitute on Aging