Risk perception and reasoning performance in high and low risk adolescents

grantor: University of TorontoThe goal of this exploratory research was to examine whether high and low risk male adolescents differed on a group of measures associated with risk perception and risk behaviour. Based on previous research, it was expected that high risk adolescents would consistently report and display more risk related behaviours than low risk adolescents. Cognitive ability and thinking dispositions were examined as correlates of performance on these tasks. A sample of ninety male adolescents were subdivided into two groups--a high or low risk group based on the frequency of school suspensions. Tasks included: two self-report measures consisting of a risk perception questionnaire and a future life events inventory; two reasoning tasks consisting of a gambling task and a marble task; a cognitive ability measure; and a thinking dispositions questionnaire. The high risk students reported less fear of the dangers associated with high risk activities, displayed lower optimism, and these students were also the high risk choosers on the gambling task of cost-benefit reasoning. No differences were found on the marble reasoning task. Some evidence was found for a "syndrome of problem behaviour", as students who engaged in one high risk activity were more likely to engage in other high risk activities. High and low risk students did not differ in cognitive ability and some trends were found which suggest that thinking dispositions may explain differences between the two groups of students. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of a somatic marker hypothesis (Bechara et al., 1994) and a generic dual process framework for reasoning (Stanovich & West, 2000).Ph.D