Abstract
Group decision-making is required in early life in educational settings and central to a well-functioning society. However, there is little research on group decision-making in adolescence, despite the significant neuro-cognitive changes during this period. Researchers have studied adolescent decision-making in ‘static’ social contexts, such as risk-taking in the presence of peers, and largely deemed adolescent decision-making ‘sub-optimal’. It is not clear whether these findings generalise to more dynamic social contexts, such as the discussions required to reach a group decision. Here we test the optimality of group decision-making at different stages of adolescence. Pairs of male pre-to-early adolescents (8 to 13 years of age) and mid-to-late adolescents (14 to 17 years of age) together performed a low-level, perceptual decision-making task. Whenever their individual decisions differed, they were required to negotiate a joint decision. While there were developmental differences in individual performance, the joint performance of both adolescent groups was at adult levels (data obtained from a previous study). Both adolescent groups achieved a level of joint performance expected under optimal integration of their individual information into a joint decision. Young adolescents’ joint, but not individual, performance deteriorated over time. The results are consistent with recent findings attesting to the competencies, rather than the shortcomings, of adolescent social behaviour.
Highlights
Group decision-making is required in early life in educational settings and central to a well-functioning society
Adolescence, spanning the second decade of life, is a period of profound physical and psychological development. It is characterised by continued brain maturation through synaptic pruning and myelination1,2, in particular of the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in higher-order functions such as decision-making, cognitive control and social cognition3–6
We emphasise that our main measures of joint performance are normalised by individual performance and can be compared between age groups despite differences at the individual level
Summary
Group decision-making is required in early life in educational settings and central to a well-functioning society. Researchers have studied adolescent decisionmaking in ‘static’ social contexts, such as risk-taking in the presence of peers, and largely deemed adolescent decision-making ‘sub-optimal’. It is not clear whether these findings generalise to more dynamic social contexts, such as the discussions required to reach a group decision. Pairs of male pre-toearly adolescents (8 to 13 years of age) and mid-to-late adolescents (14 to 17 years of age) together performed a low-level, perceptual decision-making task Whenever their individual decisions differed, they were required to negotiate a joint decision. In the context of group decision-making, such increased susceptibility to peer influence may prevent a group from assigning appropriate weights to the opinions of its members
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