Fuzzy Trace Theory and Medical Decisions by Minors: Differences in Reasoning between Adolescents and Adults
- 19 April 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
- Vol. 38 (3), 268-282
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jht018
Abstract
Standard models of adolescent risk taking posit that the cognitive abilities of adolescents and adults are equivalent, and that increases in risk taking that occur during adolescence are the result of socio emotional differences in impulsivity, sensation seeking, and lack of self-control. Fuzzy-trace theory incorporates these socio emotional differences. However, it predicts that there are also cognitive differences between adolescents and adults, specifically that there are developmental increases in gist-based intuition that reflects understanding. Gist understanding, as opposed to verbatim-based analysis, generally has been hypothesized to have a protective effect on risk taking in adolescence. Gist understanding is also an essential element of informed consent regarding risks in medical decision- making. Evidence thus supports the argument that adolescents’ status as mature minors should be treated as an exception rather than a presumption, because accuracy in verbatim analysis is not mature gist understanding. Use of the exception should be accompanied by medical experts’ input on the bottom-line gist of risks involved in treatment.Keywords
This publication has 41 references indexed in Scilit:
- To Dollars from Sense: Qualitative to Quantitative Translation in Jury Damage AwardsJournal of Empirical Legal Studies, 2011
- Dual processes in decision making and developmental neuroscience: A fuzzy-trace modelDevelopmental Review, 2011
- Adolescent Psychological Development, Parenting Styles, and Pediatric Decision MakingJournal of Medicine and Philosophy, 2010
- A time of change: Behavioral and neural correlates of adolescent sensitivity to appetitive and aversive environmental cuesBrain and Cognition, 2009
- How numeracy influences risk comprehension and medical decision making.Psychological Bulletin, 2009
- A Theory of Medical Decision Making and Health: Fuzzy Trace TheoryMedical Decision Making, 2008
- Current theories of risk and rational decision makingDevelopmental Review, 2008
- Risk taking under the influence: A fuzzy-trace theory of emotion in adolescenceDevelopmental Review, 2008
- The adolescent brainDevelopmental Review, 2008
- A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-takingDevelopmental Review, 2008