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Poor Decision Making Is a Consequence of Cognitive Decline among Older Persons without Alzheimer’s Disease or Mild Cognitive Impairment

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  • Patricia A Boyle
  • Lei Yu
  • Robert S Wilson
  • Keith Gamble
  • Aron S Buchman
  • David A Bennett

Abstract

Objective: Decision making is an important determinant of health and well-being across the lifespan but is critical in aging, when many influential decisions are made just as cognitive function declines. Increasing evidence suggests that older adults, even those without dementia, often make poor decisions and are selectively vulnerable to scams. To date, however, the factors associated with poor decision making in old age are unknown. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that poor decision making is a consequence of cognitive decline among older persons without Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment. Methods: Participants were 420 non-demented persons from the Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal, clinical-pathologic cohort study of aging in the Chicago metropolitan area. All underwent repeated cognitive evaluations and subsequently completed assessments of decision making and susceptibility to scams. Decision making was measured using 12 items from a previously established performance-based measure and a self-report measure of susceptibility to scams. Results: Cognitive function data were collected over an average of 5.5 years prior to the decision making assessment. Regression analyses were used to examine whether the prior rate of cognitive decline predicted the level of decision making and susceptibility to scams; analyses controlled for age, sex, education, and starting level of cognition. Among 420 persons without dementia, more rapid cognitive decline predicted poorer decision making and increased susceptibility to scams (p’s

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia A Boyle & Lei Yu & Robert S Wilson & Keith Gamble & Aron S Buchman & David A Bennett, 2012. "Poor Decision Making Is a Consequence of Cognitive Decline among Older Persons without Alzheimer’s Disease or Mild Cognitive Impairment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(8), pages 1-5, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0043647
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043647
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sumit Agarwal & John C. Driscoll & Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2009. "The Age of Reason: Financial Decisions over the Life Cycle and Implications for Regulation," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 40(2 (Fall)), pages 51-117.
    2. Heiss, Florian & McFadden, Daniel L. & Winter, Joachim, 2006. "Who failed to enroll in Medicare Part D, and why? Early results," Munich Reprints in Economics 19427, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mitchell, O.S. & Piggott, J., 2016. "Workplace-Linked Pensions for an Aging Demographic," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 865-904, Elsevier.
    2. Michael S. Finke & John S. Howe & Sandra J. Huston, 2017. "Old Age and the Decline in Financial Literacy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(1), pages 213-230, January.
    3. Gorman, Emma, 2017. "Schooling, occupation and cognitive function: Evidence from compulsory schooling laws," SocArXiv t647a, Center for Open Science.
    4. Bryan D James & Patricia A Boyle & Lei Yu & S Duke Han & David A Bennett, 2015. "Cognitive Decline Is Associated with Risk Aversion and Temporal Discounting in Older Adults without Dementia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, April.
    5. Brandon E Gavett & Rui Zhao & Samantha E John & Cara A Bussell & Jennifer R Roberts & Chuan Yue, 2017. "Phishing suspiciousness in older and younger adults: The role of executive functioning," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Joanne K Earl & Paul Gerrans & Anthony Asher & Julia Woodside, 2015. "Financial literacy, financial judgement, and retirement self-efficacy of older trustees of self-managed superannuation funds," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 40(3), pages 435-458, August.
    7. Paul Gerrans & Anthony Asher & Joanne Kaa Earl, 2022. "Cognitive functioning, financial literacy, and judgment in older age," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(S1), pages 1637-1674, April.
    8. Aparajita Sur & Marguerite DeLiema & Ethan Brown, 2021. "Contextual and Social Predictors of Scam Susceptibility and Fraud Victimization," Working Papers wp429, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.

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