Adolescent Decision Making
Amber Howard

Adolescents do not grow into
good decision making.
 Skill that must be
learned and
practiced
 Ineffective decision
making can lead to
long-term negative
consequences

Search institute lists it as one
developmental asset for resiliency
5 other resiliency factors related to good
decision making:
 self-esteem
 personal power
 restraint
 integrity
 and positive view of personal future

Adolescents are between two cognitive
stages according to Jean Piaget
Concrete Operational
(7-12)
Formal Operational
(12-Adult)
Basic ability to reason
with concrete objects
Begin to think abstractly,
Less egocentrism,
Metacognition (thinking
about thinking)

This shift in thinking means they
are increasingly able to consider
Hypothetical
Situations
Multiple
Perspectives
Future
Consequences
Alternative Options

Higher order thinking also develops
due to physical changes in the brain.
 Emotional
responses
 Long-term
memory
 Behavioral
tendencies
Amygdala and Limbic System

Prefrontal Cortex
 Not fully developed until
well into adulthood
 Responsible for ability to
control emotional and
social responses to
stimuli
 Modulates sensitivity to
different kinds of rewards
 Identifies the significance
of stimuli
 Exerts control over
impulses

The greatest difference in maturation between the
limbic system and the prefrontal cortex is during
adolescence.
Cognitive maturation difference actually impairs
the ability to control impulses and results in
increased risk-taking behavior.
Adolescent decisions are more likely to be based
on emotions or impulsive desires than reason.

Adolescents analyze risk
differently than adults
Motivated to seek out new,
exciting, or emotionally
charged stimuli
May believe the positives of a
risk (like social acceptance)
may outweigh the negatives
(like health risks)

Causes:
 Adolescent’s strong social priorities
 Lack of ability to perceive long-term
consequences
Even when consequences are known,
egocentrism can make adolescents feel
invincible to negative outcomes
This is heightened by higher sensitivity to
rewards and lessened sensitivity to
adverse effects.

Example: may experience a lesser degree of
behavioral change and hangover from
drinking alcohol than mature adults do

School Decision Making
Programs
 Many focus on how to avoid
risk taking behaviors and
less on true decision
making skills.
 Programs like Just say no
and abstinence focused sex
education are present
“messy situations as having
only one or two options

 Students presented with one healthy
choice or exaggerated risks in order to
scare them “straight”
 Often backfires because classes often
leave out sensitive or controversial
information that students need
 Also, can strengthen egocentric
thought if risky behaviors are done and
expected outcomes are not
experienced
 If so, more likely to continue taking
risks and may stop using precautions to
protect themselves.

Relevancy
 Many methods advise
weighting options by
relevance and probability
of occurrence
 Students resent
making charts/graphs,
report that it takes to
long to be useful, and
have trouble with the
probability calculations

Effective strategies must:
 seem relevant and useful
 provide a framework for looking at problems
 help adolescents learn to identify options
 encourage looking and immediate and long-
term consequences for each choice
 help them avoid making biased decisions

Decision Making Biases
 More susceptible because:
 Egocentrism
 Highly active limbic system
 Immature prefrontal cortex
 Including Temporal Myopia:
The preference for instant gratification over
waiting for a larger gain

Insufficient
Search
Impulsive decision making, sacrificing speed over
accuracy.
Single-
mindedness
Decision is based on a single dimension and excludes
other factors.
Myside Bias
Inflexible decision making, unwilling to change mind,
finds support for original desired choice and ignores
other information.
Sink-cost Effect
Refusal to abandon a choice that is not working
because of a prior investment of time, money, or effort
into the decision.
Endowment/
Framing Effects
Inability to take another perspective, overvaluing what
is currently had over what might be obtained or
achieved.
Omission Bias
Harmful actions are judged to be worse than equally
or more harmful inactions.
Neglect of
Uncertain
Outcomes or
Imperceptible
Outcomes
Decisions based on the assumption that there will be
no quantifiable harm done to another party, an action
or inaction is viewed as acceptable because of how a
third-party might manage or mismanage the outcome.

 Education about
common biases is
not effective in
reducing them
 Teaching a logical
approach to
decision making
does

Basic Decision Making Process
1. List relevant choices
2. Identifying potential consequences
3. Assess likelihood of consequences
4. Determine importance of each
5. Combine all information to decide which
choice is the most beneficial

4 Decision making strategies
taught to adolescents
Three C’s GOOP
GOFER Odyssey

Three C’s
Challenge, Choices, Consequences
 Identify problem
 Write all possible choices
 Find positives and negative
consequences of each choice.

 Focus: finding multiple
options and avoid single-
mindedness and myside
bias
 Group work encouraged to
find solutions
 Cases have real world
significance and
acknowledges that there
can be positives and
negatives to risk-taking
behavior
 No mathematical
component

GOOP
What do I want? What can I do? What might happen?
G - determine GOALS
O- examine OPTIONS available
O- predict OUTCOMES
P- consider PROBABILITIES of
uncertain outcomes

 Multiattribute chart, compare outcomes across
multiple domains
 No difficulty using chart, problems calculating
probabilities (simple utility (desirability),
weight, x for weighted utilities, then + for total
utility. )
 Highest total utility is best option in perfect
scenario
 Students report: little practical value and
unlikely to use it for most decisions

GOFER
 Direct instruction, tailored for mid-
adolescents aged 14-15
 Helps students:
 Identify goals and options
 Recognize and find good information
 Acknowledge the external influences that
affect choices
 Accurately access risks involved with their
options.

This approach addresses egocentrism and helps
students consider decisions from multiple
perspectives
Gains Losses
For Yourself
For Others
To Your Self-
Approval
To Approval by
Others
Balance Sheet

GOFER:
Goals, Options, Facts, Effects, and Review
1. Canvas for a wide range of alternatives
2. Determine objectives and values implicated by
the choice
3. Weigh every negative and positive
consequence possible
4. Search for relevant information
5. Assess information without bias
6. Reevaluate the consequences before making a
choice
7. Plan for implementation and contingencies

Odyssey
Any problem can be understood if you have
enough information and interpret it carefully.
Discovery learning with instructor guidance
 Assign importance to options, then rank
them to obtain a simple weighted value.
 Unlike GOOP, Odyssey illustrates how this
system will not work for all real life
problems

 Presents dilemmas that are
increasingly “messy” and harder
to solve with mathematical
analysis
 Stresses need for adaptation and
information gathering.
 Helps adolescents gain
confidence in their ability to think
analytically and assess the world
around them
 The goal is to make the
framework so familiar and useful
that students will resort to it
outside of the course

For the greatest benefit,
incorporate decision
making skills and
problem solving into the
curriculum across
domains
Any system taught to
adolescents must be
simple and broadly
useful or they will view
decision making
strategies as purely
academic exercises

Easy steps to encourage critical
thinking and problem solving
 Encourage decision making by giving
students choices
 Model decision making thought processes
 Encourage working in groups, seeking advice,
and researching information

 Educate about physical development and
explain how impulsivity, emotions, and social
influences can affect decision making
 Help adolescents learn to recognize biased
information and biases in the thinking process
 Encourage students to seek out their own
options and solutions
 Practice forward-thinking
Continued…

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