Susceptibility to peer influence in adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability: Investigating links with inhibition, Theory of Mind and negative interpretation bias

Background: This preregistered study compares adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability (MBID) and typically developing (TD) adolescents on their susceptibility to peer influence. To understand why adolescents with MBID are susceptible to peer influence, links with inhibition, Theory of Mind (ToM) and negative interpretation bias are investigated. Method: We assessed 163 adolescents (111 MBID, 52 TD 14–19 years; 63% boys) using experimental tasks and self- and/or teacher-reports. Results: Adolescents with MBID and TD adolescents did not differ in their susceptibility to peer influence, inhibition, and negative interpretations. On two ToM instruments, adolescents with MBID performed weaker than TD adolescents. In a structural equation model, tested in the MBID group, inhibition, ToM and negative interpretation bias were not related to susceptibility to peer influence. Conclusions: This study revealed new insights by strong methods such as the multimethod approach, a full theoretical model testing relations between all constructs simultaneously, and the large sample

Formal Models of Differential Framing Effects in Decision Making Under Risk

An intriguing finding in the decision-making literature is that, when people have to choose between sure and risky options of equal expected value, they typically take more risks when decisions are framed as losses instead of gains (Tversky &amp; Kahneman, 1981). This framing effect is robust and has important implications for health, finance, and politics. However, theoretical debate exists on the origins of this effect. Moreover, pronounced task-related, individual, and developmental differences exist in the magnitude of the effect. These two issues—theoretical debate and differential framing effects— can be solved together, as an adequate theory of the framing effect should both describe the effect itself and describe differences therein. Therefore, we compare four theories on their capacity to describe differential framing effects: cumulative prospect theory (CPT), fuzzy trace theory (FTT), dual process theory, and a hybrid theory (HT) incorporating elements from lexicographic theory and fuzzy trace theory. First, in a theoretical analysis and empirical review, we build on recent advances in the fields of decision making, brain– behavior relationships, and cognitive development. Second, in an empirical study, we directly compare these theories by using a new experimental task and new analytic approach in which we use hierarchical Bayesian model-based mixture analysis of theories. Taken together, results indicate that differential framing effects are best described by the notion that the majority of decision makers decide according to the hybrid theory, and a sizable minority according to cumulative prospect theory and fuzzy trace theory. We discuss implications of these results for our understanding of the framing effect, and for decision making in general.</p

Univariate comparisons given aggregated normative data

Objective: Normative comparison is a method to compare an individual to a norm group. It is commonly used in neuropsychological assessment to determine if a patient’s cognitive capacities deviate from those of a healthy population. Neuropsychological assessment often involves multiple testing, which might increase the familywise error rate (FWER). Recently, several correction methods have been proposed to reduce the FWER. However these methods require that multivariate normative data are available, which is often not the case. We propose to obtain these data by merging the control group data of existing studies into an aggregated database. In this paper, we study how the correction methods fare given such an aggregated normative database. Methods: In a simulation study mimicking the aggregated database situation, we compared applying no correction, the Bonferroni correction, a maximum distribution approach and a stepwise approach on their FWER and their power to detect genuine deviations. Results: If the aggregated database contained data on all neuropsychological tests, the stepwise approach outperformed the other methods with respect to the FWER and power. However, if data were missing, the Bonferroni correction produced the lowest FWER. Discussion: Overall, the stepwise approach appears to be the most suitable normative comparison method for use in neuropsychological assessment. When the norm data contained large amounts of missing data, the Bonferroni correction proved best. Advice of which method to use in different situations is provided

Susceptibility to peer influence in adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability: Investigating links with inhibition, Theory of Mind and negative interpretation bias

Background This preregistered study compares adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability (MBID) and typically developing (TD) adolescents on their susceptibility to peer influence. To understand why adolescents with MBID are susceptible to peer influence, links with inhibition, Theory of Mind (ToM) and negative interpretation bias are investigated. Method We assessed 163 adolescents (111 MBID, 52 TD 14–19 years; 63% boys) using experimental tasks and self- and/or teacher-reports. Results Adolescents with MBID and TD adolescents did not differ in their susceptibility to peer influence, inhibition, and negative interpretations. On two ToM instruments, adolescents with MBID performed weaker than TD adolescents. In a structural equation model, tested in the MBID group, inhibition, ToM and negative interpretation bias were not related to susceptibility to peer influence. Conclusions This study revealed new insights by strong methods such as the multimethod approach, a full theoretical model testing relations between all constructs simultaneously, and the large sample

Decision-making deficits in adolescent boys with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): an experimental assessment of associated mechanisms

Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) demonstrate increased levels of real-life risk-taking behavior like substance abuse and reckless behavior in traffic, which potentially originates in decision-making deficits. Using experimental gambling tasks, the current study investigated three potential underlying mechanisms: (1) risky vs. suboptimal decision making, (2) the complexity of decision-making strategies and (3) the influence of feedback. Participants were 181 male adolescents (81 ADHD, 100 Typically Developing (TD); Mage = 15.1 years). First, we addressed a common confound in many gambling tasks by disentangling risk seeking from suboptimal decision making, and found that ADHD-related decision-making deficits do not originate in increased risk seeking but in suboptimal decision making. Second, we assessed decision-making strategies with a Bayesian latent mixture analysis and found that ADHD-related decision-making deficits are characterized by the use of less complex strategies. That is, adolescent boys with ADHD, relative to TD adolescent boys, less often adopted strategies in which all characteristics relevant to make an optimal decision were integrated. Third, we administered two gambling task conditions with feedback in which adolescents experience the outcomes of their decisions and found that adolescents with ADHD performed worse relative to TD adolescents on both conditions. Altogether, this set of studies demonstrated consistent decision-making deficits in adolescent boys with ADHD: The use of less complex decision-making strategies may cause suboptimal decision making, both in situations with and without direct feedback on performance.Pathways through Adolescenc

Are individual differences quantitative or qualitative? An integrated behavioral and fMRI MIMIC approach

In cognitive neuroscience there is a growing interest in individual differences. We propose the Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model of combined behavioral and fMRI data to determine whether such differences are quantitative or qualitative in nature. A simulation study revealed the MIMIC model to have adequate power for this goal, and parameter recovery to be satisfactory. The MIMIC model was illustrated with a re-analysis of Van Duijvenvoorde et al. (2016) and Blankenstein et al. (2018) decision making data. This showed individual differences in Van Duijvenvoorde et al. (2016) to originate in qualitative differences in decision strategies. Parameters indicated some individuals to use an expected value decision strategy, while others used a loss minimizing strategy, distinguished by individual differences in vmPFC activity. Individual differences in Blankenstein et al. (2018) were explained by quantitative differences in risk aversion. Parameters showed that more risk averse individuals preferred safe over risky choices, as predicted by heightened vmPFC activity. We advocate using the MIMIC model to empirically determine, rather than assume, the nature of individual differences in combined behavioral and fMRI datasets.Pathways through Adolescenc

Susceptibility to peer influence in adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability: Investigating links with inhibition, Theory of Mind and negative interpretation bias

Background: This preregistered study compares adolescents with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability (MBID) and typically developing (TD) adolescents on their susceptibility to peer influence. To understand why adolescents with MBID are susceptible to peer influence, links with inhibition, Theory of Mind (ToM) and negative interpretation bias are investigated. Method: We assessed 163 adolescents (111 MBID, 52 TD 14–19 years; 63% boys) using experimental tasks and self- and/or teacher-reports. Results: Adolescents with MBID and TD adolescents did not differ in their susceptibility to peer influence, inhibition, and negative interpretations. On two ToM instruments, adolescents with MBID performed weaker than TD adolescents. In a structural equation model, tested in the MBID group, inhibition, ToM and negative interpretation bias were not related to susceptibility to peer influence. Conclusions: This study revealed new insights by strong methods such as the multimethod approach, a full theoretical model testing relations between all constructs simultaneously, and the large sample