M. L. Finucanc ct al.
Aging and Decision-making Competence
161
Overall, the present research has demonstrated age differences in two skills underlying judgment and deci­
sion making-namely comprehension and, to a lesser extent, consistency. Decreasing comprehension and
increasing inconsistency when evaluating health-plan options implies that simply providing more informa­
tion may not help older adults make choices that fit their individual needs and preferences. Future research
needs to examine other dimensions of DMC in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar problem domains
(e.g. meal preparation, financial planning) and to begin exploring mechanisms that may explain when and
why age differences occur. The way information is presented in choice and evaluation tasks will affect who
will be able to use it effectively. Identifying the types of tasks most challenging for older adults and how age­
related potentials and limits develop will allow judgment and decision aids to be tailored optimally. More
empirical research on age differences in judgment and decision making is needed to determine why they
occur in general and in decision tasks in particular.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Changes in Health Care Financing and
Organization initiative, the Public Policy Institute at the American Association of Retired Persons, and the
Health Care Finance Administration for the funding that supported this work. We are grateful for help with
data collection by Martin Tusler, Elizabeth Scholze Schmidt, and Stephen Johnson and for help with
manuscript preparation by Janet Kershner, Leisha W harfield, and Mona Bronson. We also appreciate the
comments and suggestions of three anonymous reviewers.
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Authors' biographies:
Melissa L. Finucane is a Research Investigator at the Center for Health Research Hawai'i, Honolulu, Hawai'i and a
Research Scientist at Decision Research, Eugene, Oregon. Her research interests include judgment, choice, decision­
making competence, affect, and risk perception.
Paul Siovic is president of Decision Research and a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, He studies
human jUdgment, decision making, and risk analysis.
Judith Hibbard is a professor Health Policy at the University of Oregon and a clinical professor of public health and
preventive medicine at the Oregon Health Sciences University. Her research interests focus on consumer use of informa­
tion in health care choices.
Ellen Peters is a Research Scientist at Decision Research in Eugene, Oregon, Her research interests include affect, emo­
tion, deliberation, and age differences in judgments, choices, and risk perceptions,
C. K. Mertz is a data analyst at Decision Research, Eugene, Oregon. Her research interests include multivariate statis­
tical methods, risk perception, and affect.
Donald G. MacGregor is a Senior Researcher with Decision Research, and a Senior Scientist with Applied Decison
Concepts, both of Eugene, OR. His interests include judgment and decision making, risk communication, and decision
aiding.
Copyright!
2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journal of Behavioral Decision Makil1[i,
15: 141� 164 (2002)