Amaç: Sağlıklı bireylerin Iowa Kumar Testi ile ölçülen belirsiz durumlarda karar verme davranışlarının, ergenlik döneminden ileri olgunluk dönemine devam eden yıllar boyunca, yaş ve cinsiyet deðiþkenlerinin etkileþimine baðlý deðiþimi kesitsel olarak incelenmiþtir. Yürütücü iþlevler ve dürtüsellik seviyelerinin karar verme davranýþýný etkileyebileceði göz önünde bulundurularak, bu deðiþkenler ile olan iliþkiler de analize katýlmýþlardýr. Yöntem: Yaþlarý 13-80 arasýnda deðiþen, 157 saðlýklý katýlýmcýnýn karar verme davranýþý IKT ile deðerlendirilmiþtir. Katýlýmcýlar 13-17, 18-35, 36-60, 60 üzeri olmak üzere 4 farklý yaþ grubuna ayrýlmýþlardýr. Yürütücü iþlevler, Wisconsin Kart Eþleme Testi, dürtüsellik ise Barratt Dürtüsellik Envanteri ile deðerlendirilmiþtir. Bulgular: Gruplar-arasý etkiler, cinsiyet ve yaþ deðiþkenlerinin karar verme performansý üzerinde anlamlý etkileri olduðunu göstermiþtir. Ýkili karþýlaþtýrmalar, EYG ve EG’nin IKT toplam puanlarý arasýnda EYG lehine anlamlý bir fark olduðunu gösterirken; cinsiyet karþýlaþtýrmalarýna bakýldýðýnda erkeklerin kadýnlardan anlamlý düzeyde yüksek puanlar aldýklarý görülmüþtür. Grup-içi etkilere bakýldýðýnda, her grup kendi içinde test boyunca, performanslarýný arttýrmýþ olmalarýna raðmen, 13-17 ve 60 üzeri yaþ grubu, test boyunca puanlarýný diðer gruplar kadar arttýramamýþlardýr. Dürtüsellik ve karar-verme performansý arasýnda anlamlý bir iliþki bulunmazken; perseveratif hata yüzdesi ile karar verme testindeki toplam net puanlarý arasýnda zayýf bir anlamlý korelasyon bulunmuþtur. Sonuç: Katýlýmcýlarýn, ergenlik döneminden itibaren genç yetiþkinliðe doðru bir artan ve ardýndan yaþlýlýða doðru tekrar düþen karar-verme performansý, belirsiz durumlardaki karar verme davranýþýnýn yaþa baðlý olarak, ters U þeklinde bir paterni olduðu gösterilmiþtir.

Objective: In present study, age related changes in decision-making behavior of healthy participants through the years beginning from adolescence and through later maturity as assessed by Iowa Gambling Test and performance differences between gender and age groups were examined and were compared in a cross-sectional design. Considering the confounding effects of participants’ executive functions and their impulsivity levels decision-making performances, the correlations with these variables were also investigated. Method: Decision-making behavior of 157 healthy participants with age ranges 13-80 were divided into 4 groups (13- 17, 18-35, 36-60, 60 and above). Executive functions were assessed by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and impulsivity was assessed by Barratt Impulsivity Inventory. Results: Between-subjects effects revealed that both gender and age had significant effects on decision-making performance. According to paired comparisons, 18- 35 age group had significantly higher total net scores than the 13-17 age group. Male participants had significantly higher total net scores than the female participants. Despite each group increased their IGT scores within themselves throughout the test, 13-17 and 60 above groups did not achieve the levels of other groups’ scores. No significant correlations were found between impulsivity and decision-making performance, a weak significant correlation was found between perseverative errors and total net scores of decision-making test. Discussion:As expected, an inverted U-shaped developmental pattern of decision-making behavior, which was characterized by an increase in performance that became evident in adolescence and proceeds through early adulthood and which was subsequently followed by a decrease in performance through late maturity was determined in this study.