Changes in Exploration Tendencies and Links to Perceived Stress and Loneliness in Adolescence

• In Event: Factors Affecting Goal-Directed Behavior

Abstract

Exploration is a key source of learning throughout development. During adolescence, exploration may be especially important in the social realm to help navigate peer group transitions. However, stress has been shown to diminish exploration tendencies, which could lead to increased isolation and loneliness. Across two studies, we sought to 1) examine how exploration tendencies in different contexts change from early to late adolescence, and 2) examine relationships between self-reported exploration tendencies, stress, and social isolation. In Study 1, we examined age-related differences in explore-exploit tendencies: early (mean age = 11.1) and late (mean age = 19.3) adolescents completed three different types of computerized exploration tasks: a foraging task (Lenow et al, 2017), two sequential search tasks (Dale et al, 2020), and a bandit task (Wilson et al, 2017). While they differed in structure, each of these tasks asked participants to make a series of choices between gathering additional information (explore) or taking advantage of what they already knew (exploit) in order to accumulate rewards. Explore choices on the bandit task were further classified as either directed (strategic, goal-oriented) or random (by chance, based on decision noise) using computational modeling. Age-group differences in explore-exploit choices varied depending on the task. In the bandit task, early adolescents engaged in less goal-directed exploration than late adolescents (F(1,118), = 4.9, p < .03), and equivalent levels of random exploration; however, exploration decreased with age in a sequential search task, in which little information about the overall environment (e.g., how much reward was possible) was provided. No age-related change was found within the foraging task. In Study 2, our aim was to develop a more ecologically valid self-report measure to assess exploration tendencies in physical, intellectual, and social domains in everyday contexts. Among a group of late adolescents (mean age = 19), we found that perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale; Cohen et al, 1983) and loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale; Russel et al, 1978) were both negatively correlated with exploration in social environments as measured by our self-report scale. Overall, results from these two studies suggest that 1) while goal directed exploration increases from early to late adolescence, exploration in environments characterized by high uncertainty may decrease; and 2) higher exploratory tendencies in everyday life are linked to better social outcomes (lower perceived stress and lower loneliness) in late adolescence. Results can be applied to the development of interventions to optimize social adaptation in adolescents.

Authors

• Madeline B Harms, University of Minnesota - Duluth
  Presenting Author

• Yuyan Xu, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• C. Shawn Green, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Kristina Woodard, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Robert Wilson

• Seth David Pollak, University of Wisconsin - Madison