Data from: Distinct developmental trajectories for risky and impulsive decision-making in chimpanzees

Human adolescence is characterized by a suite of changes in
decision-making and emotional regulation that promote risky and impulsive
behavior. Accumulating evidence suggests that behavioral and physiological
shifts seen in human adolescence are shared by some primates, yet it is
unclear if the same cognitive mechanisms are recruited. We examined
developmental changes in risky choice, inter-temporal choice, and
emotional responses to decision outcomes in chimpanzees, our
closest-living relatives. We found that adolescent chimpanzees were more
risk-seeking than adults, as in humans. However, chimpanzees showed no
developmental change in inter-temporal choice, unlike humans, although
younger chimpanzees did exhibit elevated emotional reactivity to waiting
compared to adults. Comparisons of cortisol and testosterone indicated
robust age-related variation in these biomarkers, and patterns of
individual differences in choices, emotional reactivity, and hormones also
supported a developmental dissociation between risk and choice
impulsivity.  These results show that some but not all core
features of human adolescent decision-making are shared with chimpanzees.