RESEARCH PROJECTS
Adolescent Risk Taking
Engaging in real-life risk-taking behaviors can pose risks to our health, e.g. binge drinking, reckless driving and criminal behavior. Statistics show that engagement in risk taking behavior peaks during old adolescence/young adulthood. Some amount of risk-taking behavior is normative, and important for adolescents to explore their environment and learn about the world. However, excessive amounts of risk taking can lead to unintended injuries and can have long lasting adverse consequences. In this project I aim to identify what factors contribute to the increase in risky decision making in adolescence. |
Adolescent risk taking explained in 30 seconds - for full version click here
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Social influence on risky decision making
Adolescence is a time in life during which peers become more important. Adolescents spend more time with their peers and the opinion of peers becomes more important. Adolescent decision making is influenced by the norms and behavior of their peers. One manifestation of this effect is the observed increase in risk taking behavior when in the presence of peers. An effect observed in the lab as well as in the real world. However, not all adolescents show increased risk taking in the presence of peers and not all types of peer influence result in increases in risk taking behavior. The main focus of this research project is to dissect the complicated phenomenon of social influence and unravel the mechanisms that lead to increases in risk taking behavior. |
Connecting neuroscience and real life
Risk taking behavior has been studied widely in the lab and in real life. In the lab, adolescents show increased risk taking behavior compared to children and adults. In real life this is mirrored by statistics showing a peak in binge drinking in late adolescence/early adulthood and a peak in criminal behavior. However, the relationship between lab measures of risk taking and engagement in real life risk taking behavior is unclear. In other words, those adolescents who show increased risk taking behavior in the lab are not necessarily the same adolescents who engage in real life risk taking. In the Braingames project we aim to get more insight in the relationship between lab measures and real life behavior. We use daily diaries to assess real life behavior and lab tasks and questionnaires to assess lab based behavior. These measures are combined to gain insight into the underlying factors of real life risk taking behavior. |
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