Effects of Early Adversity and War Trauma on Learning Under Uncertainty

In uncertain situations, individuals rely on prior experiences of successes and failures to guide future decisions. Research has shown that children exposed to early adversity, such as abuse, can exhibit atypical behaviours in probabilistic learning tasks compared to peers without such experiences, which may have long-term behavioural consequences. Building on these findings, our study investigates whether children exposed to war-related trauma and forced displacement show similar alterations in decision-making under uncertainty. We conducted a series of experiments involving tasks that required learning and decision-making under uncertainty (e.g., multi-armed bandits and foraging) in Amman, Jordan, comparing Syrian refugee children (ages 7-12) with age-matched Jordanian non-refugee peers. Although our first experiment suggested less exploratory behaviour in refugee children, results from subsequent tasks revealed a pattern better explained by heightened sensitivity to rewards. This interpretation suggests that refugee children's decision-making is driven by a stronger response to rewards across different contexts. Such heightened reward sensitivity may influence how these children approach problem-solving and decision-making, potentially leading to detrimental outcomes in environments that benefit from greater exploration and the maintenance of a stable strategy. SUMMARY: Syrian refugee children (ages 7-12) showed heightened reward sensitivity compared to age-matched Jordanian peers across decision-making tasks. Reward sensitivity influenced children's choices under uncertainty, particularly following successful risky outcomes. Findings highlight how early adversity may shape decision-making strategies relevant to resilience and long-term cognitive development.