A neuroscientist hypothesizes that some adolescents' increased risk-taking is driven not by impaired judgment of risk itself but by the heightened rewarding feeling associated with potential gains in the presence of peers.
Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the neuroscientist's hypothesis?
- A
Adolescents and adults differ in many cognitive ways.
- B
Risk-taking can have both positive and negative outcomes.
- Ccheck_circle
Adolescents in a driving simulator took similar risks alone as adults, but in the presence of peers showed selectively heightened activity in reward-related brain regions and took significantly more risks; their estimates of risk probability did not differ across conditions.
- D
Many adolescents participate in extracurricular activities.
Explanation
A holds risk estimates constant and shows behavior tracks reward signals selectively in peer presence, supporting the specific reward-driven hypothesis over a judgment-impairment account. B, C, and D are tangential.