Stanford Study: Aging Investors Make More Mistakes

It's not memory loss or senility that leads to mistakes, but increased "noise" in parts of seniors' brains, Stanford psychologists say.

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http://www.stanford.edu/

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• aging
• human behavior
• investing
• risk
• risk management
• seniors
• elderly
• old

[grunder20]

Its obvious isn't it. Aging affects our performance.

[shoeheader]

Simply put, this is far too limited a basis to conclude that the decisions of older people are "mental misfires" simply because their brains dont conform to a specific pattern. My first instinct is to say that younger people in the field, and hence less experienced, use methods of thought that are more formulaic, whereas the older folks have enough experience to stretch the "rules."

[sleeprunning1]

Very important topic as Boomers brain's age and we all are responsible for our investment decisions. Of course, all scientific knowledge is imperfect, just ask your doctor! We are just at the beginning of our study of the brain. Better then not studying or communicating on it at all. Stay tuned.

[Th3Wab3]

cont

6. if anything the data only shows stimulation in an area pressumed to be linked said cognition

7. is their an uncontrolled group to affectively compare data with?

8. what affect does the procedure have on the test group

9. what are the notions of the test group coming into the test.

10. the brain is too complex to make such premature judgments, human emotions have millions of diff triggers & responses

11. what region, culture, class, education etc. influences make up the controlled group?

[Th3Wab3]

@Saktoth to many to articulate it would need a larger venue then the limited "text comment" frame.. none the less here r some

1. long-term vs. short-term

2. how can you guess the extent of knowledge each person has towards said decision

3. their are thousands of diff approaches to investing that yield simmilar results

4. what proof is their that the stimulation is caused by the specific decisions

5. tooo many unrecognized factors (unconsious, individual stressors)

the list goes on..

[theFirecat00]

"Aging investors make more mistakes" appears an overstatement, based on an observation concerning a bit of neurochemistry. What about experiences and learned wisdom, doesn't that count? Talking about dopamine, what if young investors are crackhead, or regular users of any other psychoactive agents? All these things to take into count, you know.

[Saktoth]

@Th3Wab3

Any details on why?

[Th3Wab3]

This appears to be useless study with false presumptions that stem from limited data and delusions..

[mightyENGINEER]

I see potential ethical issues that will clearly soon be raised with such research...