An interventional study of Participants receiving informational self-nudges to improve financial decision-making and Control - Participants receiving informational content on healthy eating and physical activity in Financial Exploitation of Older Adults, sponsored by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 60 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-07.
Sponsored by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
This study seeks to test novel informational content / nudge strategies to mitigate financial vulnerability among older adults.
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston is the lead sponsor of 880 studies on the registry; 209 are open to participants now.
Of its 170 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 140 (82%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants will be asked to virtually go through financial self-nudging informational content during the week prior to completing behavioral tasks. Self-nudging informational content contains strategies to enhance financial decision-making.
Behavioral: Participants receiving informational self-nudges to improve financial decision-making
The control group will be exposed to informational content on healthy eating and physical activity (obtained through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and/or National Institute on Aging webpages).
Behavioral: Control - Participants receiving informational content on healthy eating and physical activity
Participants will be asked to virtually go through financial self-nudging informational content during the week prior to completing behavioral tasks. Self-nudging informational content contains strategies to enhance financial decision-making.
The control group will be exposed to informational content on healthy eating and physical activity (obtained through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and/or National Institute on Aging webpages).
Frequency of choosing the riskier option on the risk tolerance decision-making task
Participants will complete a decision-making session that captures multiple dimensions of behavioral preferences via incentivized choice-based tasks with real monetary rewards. The study team will administer the following decision-making task via a web-based survey platform to characterize risk tolerance (willingness to accept uncertain outcomes). The task involves multiple rounds (between 20 to 40) that vary option-specific information to facilitate mapping of elicited behavioral responses onto parameters characterizing standard utility functions.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making task (about 5-10 minutes)
Frequency of choosing the more trusting option on the trust decision-making task
Participants will complete a decision-making session that captures multiple dimensions of behavioral preferences via incentivized choice-based tasks with real monetary rewards. The study team will administer the following decision-making task via a web-based survey platform to characterize interpersonal trust (willingness to accept being vulnerable to other people). The task involves multiple rounds (between 20 to 40) that vary option-specific information to facilitate mapping of elicited behavioral responses onto parameters characterizing standard utility functions.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making task (about 5-10 minutes)
Frequency of choosing the more altruistic option on the altruism decision-making task
Participants will complete a decision-making session that captures multiple dimensions of behavioral preferences via incentivized choice-based tasks with real monetary rewards. The study team will administer the following decision-making task via a web-based survey platform to characterize altruism (willingness to incur a financial cost to benefit another person). The task involves multiple rounds (between 20 to 40) that vary option-specific information to facilitate mapping of elicited behavioral responses onto parameters characterizing standard utility functions.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making task (about 5-10 minutes)
Frequency of choosing the more patient option on the impatience decision-making task
Participants will complete a decision-making session that captures multiple dimensions of behavioral preferences via incentivized choice-based tasks with real monetary rewards. The study team will administer the following decision-making task via a web-based survey platform to characterize patience (willingness to forego a sooner reward for a bigger future reward). The task involves multiple rounds (between 20 to 40) that vary option-specific information to facilitate mapping of elicited behavioral responses onto parameters characterizing standard utility functions.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making task (about 5-10 minutes)
Frequency of choosing the less loss-averse option on the loss-aversion decision-making task
Participants will complete a decision-making session that captures multiple dimensions of behavioral preferences via incentivized choice-based tasks with real monetary rewards. The study team will administer the following decision-making task via a web-based survey platform to characterize loss aversion (tendency to weigh potential losses more heavily than equivalent gains). The task involves multiple rounds (between 20 to 40) that vary option-specific information to facilitate mapping of elicited behavioral responses onto parameters characterizing standard utility functions.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making task (about 5-10 minutes)
Physiological arousal as measured via heart rate
Participants recruited for in-lab sessions will complete the decision-making tasks while also sitting before a monitor with an eye-tracker to monitor attention, a webcam to monitor facial expressions, and with a wireless device (non-invasive transmitter placed on participant's wrist with two electrodes attached to finger) worn to monitor physiological measurements (heart rate and skin conductance) while completing the choice-based tasks.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making tasks (about 20-40 minutes)
Physiological arousal as measured via skin conductance
Participants recruited for in-lab sessions will complete the decision-making tasks while also sitting before a monitor with an eye-tracker to monitor attention, a webcam to monitor facial expressions, and with a wireless device (non-invasive transmitter placed on participant's wrist with two electrodes attached to finger) worn to monitor physiological measurements (heart rate and skin conductance) while completing the choice-based tasks.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making tasks (about 20-40 minutes)
Physiological arousal as measured via pupil dilation
Participants recruited for in-lab sessions will complete the decision-making tasks while also sitting before a monitor with an eye-tracker to monitor attention, a webcam to monitor facial expressions, and with a wireless device (non-invasive transmitter placed on participant's wrist with two electrodes attached to finger) worn to monitor physiological measurements (heart rate and skin conductance) while completing the choice-based tasks.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making tasks (about 20-40 minutes)
Frequency of facial expressions associated with valence and engagement
Participants recruited for in-lab sessions will complete the decision-making tasks while also sitting before a monitor with an eye-tracker to monitor attention, a webcam to monitor facial expressions, and with a wireless device (non-invasive transmitter placed on participant's wrist with two electrodes attached to finger) worn to monitor physiological measurements (heart rate and skin conductance) while completing the choice-based tasks. Facial expressions will be assessed using a facial expression analysis system (iMotions software).
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making tasks (about 20-40 minutes)
Attention as assessed by eye fixations
Participants recruited for in-lab sessions will complete the decision-making tasks while also sitting before a monitor with an eye-tracker to monitor attention, a webcam to monitor facial expressions, and with a wireless device (non-invasive transmitter placed on participant's wrist with two electrodes attached to finger) worn to monitor physiological measurements (heart rate and skin conductance) while completing the choice-based tasks. Relative fixation duration on each option in the behavioral tasks will be measured via an eye tracker (SmartEye).
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making tasks (about 20-40 minutes)
Response time during the behavioral tasks
Response time will be reported as the time from stimulus presentation to choice, in milliseconds.
Time frame: During the time of the decision-making tasks (about 20-40 minutes)
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Jul 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston