Dr. Alex Wasserman
Department of Psychology
The Ohio State University
Title: Quantitative Approaches to Testing the Dual Systems Model of Adolescent Risk-Taking
Abstract: Developmental theories often highlight complex intra-individual changes as the impetus for age-graded differences in risk-taking behavior. The dual systems model, for example, proposes that adolescents engage in higher rates of risk-taking behaviors compared to adults in part due to a maturational imbalance between impulse control (e.g., capacity to inhibit prepotent responses) and sensation seeking (e.g., propensity for engaging in novel and thrilling experiences). In my presentation, I consider the different approaches that the field has used to test the dual systems model as well as the challenges therein. I will also present recent attempts to quantify the “maturational imbalance” (e.g., difference scores) and have a discussion on how to bridge the gap between applied research and quantitative methodology.
Dr. Wasserman earned his PhD in developmental psychology in the spring of 2018. After completing the graduate program, he joined the NRLC as a postdoctoral fellow to study the development of substance use problems among high-risk youth and applying my quantitative skillset to the longitudinal data. He joins OSU as a Visiting Assistant Professor. in Quantitative Psychology. He considers himself to be a developmental–quantitative psychologist and aims to integrate cutting-edge quantitative methods with theoretical models of adolescent risk behavior. Specifically, Dr. Wasserman studies adolescent risk behavior through the lens of the dual models. The dual systems model hypothesizes that adolescent risk behavior is the results of the contrasting developmental timing of impulse control and reward sensitivity (e.g., sensation seeking). Impulse control developments more gradually and linearly, not reaching full development until young adulthood. Conversely, reward sensitivity develops nonlinearly, reaching peak development during adolescence and declining slightly into adulthood. Thus, adolescent is a unique developmental stage when reward sensitivity is fully mature but the capacity for impulse control is not developed enough yet to regulate the rise in reward-seeking tendencies. Overall, Dr. Wasserman's goal is to refine the dual systems model and apply the theory to high-risk populations to better understand the developmental course of psychopathology including substance use disorder.