Balloon Analog Risk Task

In this task, on each trial an individual decides how much air to “pump” into a balloon on the computer screen. For each successful pump of air, more points are accrued. However, at some point, the addition of more air causes the balloon to burst, leading to the loss of all points accrued during that trial. Thus, the individual must decide to go for more points or to stop. A recent study with young adults found that this task correlated well with a large number of risk-taking measures, including both those related to risk evaluation and those related to risk proclivity.

• Lejuez, C.W., Read, J.P., Kahler, C.W., Richards, J.B., Ramsey, S.E., Stuart, G.L., Strong, D.R., Brown, R.A. (2002). Evaluation of a behavioral measure of risk taking: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8, 75-84.

• Duell, N., Icenogle, G., Silva, K., Chein, J., Steinberg, L., Banich, M., Di Giunta, L., Dodge, K. A., Fanti, K., Lansford, J. E., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Tapanya, S., Uribe Tirado, L. M., Alampay, L. P., Al-Hassan, S., Takash, H., Bacchini, D., Chang, L., & Chaudhary, N. (2018). A cross-sectional examination of response inhibition and working memory on the Stroop Task. Cognitive Development, 47, 19-31.

• Duell, N., Steinberg, L., Chein, J., Al-Hassan, S. M., Bacchini, D., Chang, L., Chaudhary, N., Di Giunta, L., Dodge, K. A., Fanti, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Tapanya, S., Uribe Tirado, L. M., & Alampay, L. P. (2016). Interaction of reward seeking and self-regulation in the prediction of risk taking: A cross-national test of the dual systems model. Developmental Psychology.