Skip to main content

Heuristic decision-making across adulthood.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Taylor, MK; Marsh, EJ; Samanez-Larkin, GR
Published in: Psychology and aging
September 2023

In general, research on aging and decision-making has grown in recent years. Yet, little work has investigated how reliance on classic heuristics may differ across adulthood. For example, younger adults rely on the availability of information from memory when judging the relative frequency of plane crashes versus car accidents, but it is unclear if older adults are similarly reliant on this heuristic. In the present study, participants aged 20-90 years old made judgments that could be answered by relying on five different heuristics: anchoring, availability, recognition, representativeness, and sunk-cost bias. We found no evidence of age-related differences in the use of the classic heuristics-younger and older adults employed anchoring, availability, recognition, and representativeness to equal degrees in order to make decisions. However, replicating past work, we found age-related differences in the sunk-cost bias-older adults were more likely to avoid this fallacy compared to younger adults. We explain these different patterns by drawing on the distinctive roles that stored knowledge and personal experience likely play across heuristics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Psychology and aging

DOI

EISSN

1939-1498

ISSN

0882-7974

Publication Date

September 2023

Volume

38

Issue

6

Start / End Page

508 / 518

Related Subject Headings

  • Recognition, Psychology
  • Judgment
  • Humans
  • Heuristics
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Decision Making
  • Aging
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aged
  • Adult
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Taylor, M. K., Marsh, E. J., & Samanez-Larkin, G. R. (2023). Heuristic decision-making across adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 38(6), 508–518. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000726
Taylor, Morgan K., Elizabeth J. Marsh, and Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin. “Heuristic decision-making across adulthood.Psychology and Aging 38, no. 6 (September 2023): 508–18. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000726.
Taylor MK, Marsh EJ, Samanez-Larkin GR. Heuristic decision-making across adulthood. Psychology and aging. 2023 Sep;38(6):508–18.
Taylor, Morgan K., et al. “Heuristic decision-making across adulthood.Psychology and Aging, vol. 38, no. 6, Sept. 2023, pp. 508–18. Epmc, doi:10.1037/pag0000726.
Taylor MK, Marsh EJ, Samanez-Larkin GR. Heuristic decision-making across adulthood. Psychology and aging. 2023 Sep;38(6):508–518.

Published In

Psychology and aging

DOI

EISSN

1939-1498

ISSN

0882-7974

Publication Date

September 2023

Volume

38

Issue

6

Start / End Page

508 / 518

Related Subject Headings

  • Recognition, Psychology
  • Judgment
  • Humans
  • Heuristics
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Decision Making
  • Aging
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aged
  • Adult