Balloon Analog Risk Task¶
HED Task ID: hedtsk_balloon_analog_risk
Also known as: BART, Balloon Task
Sequential pumping of a virtual balloon for monetary reward with stochastic popping; average pumps per un-popped balloon indexes risk-taking.
Description¶
Participants inflate a virtual balloon by clicking a pump button, earning money with each pump. The balloon may explode at any point, causing loss of all accumulated earnings for that trial. Participants can cash out at any time to save their earnings. The average number of pumps before cashing out indexes risk-taking propensity. BART risk-taking correlates with real-world risky behaviors. fMRI reveals activation in ventromedial PFC, anterior insula, and striatal regions during risk assessment.
Inclusion test¶
Procedure |
Participants sequentially pump a virtual balloon for incremental monetary reward; each pump risks the balloon popping and losing that trial’s earnings. They can stop and bank at any time. |
Manipulation |
Explosion probability function (risk schedule); reward per pump; number of trials. |
Measurement |
Adjusted average pumps on un-popped balloons (risk-taking index); total earnings; pump-by-pump decision sequences; response rate across trial segments. |
Variations¶
Variation |
Description |
Justification |
|---|---|---|
Standard BART (30 balloons) |
Pump button inflates balloon with increasing explosion probability. |
Canonical BART: pump balloon for accumulating reward, risk of explosion |
BART-Y (Youth Version) |
Simplified point system for children/adolescents. |
Modified pumping interface and simplified feedback for youth; procedure adapted per §5.3 |
Variable Explosion Probability |
Different explosion point distributions (uniform, normal, skewed). |
Explicitly communicated explosion probabilities; changes decision-making structure |
High-Stakes vs. Low-Stakes |
Varying reward amounts per pump. |
Reward magnitude manipulation changes risk-reward trade-off context |
Social Context BART |
Playing in observed vs. private conditions. |
Observer or peer performance information present; changes social decision-making context |
Automatic BART |
Participant selects desired number of pumps in advance; eliminates sequential decision-making. |
Balloon pumps automatically; removes active pumping decision, isolates risk tolerance |
BART with Loss Domain |
Starting with balloon value that decreases with each pump; loss-frame analog. |
Losses instead of gains; loss framing changes motivational structure of decisions |
Cognitive processes¶
This task engages the following cognitive processes:
Key references¶
{‘authors’: ‘Lejuez, C. W., Read, J. P., Kahler, C. W., Richards, J. B., Ramsey, S. E., Stuart, G. L., Strong, D. R., & Brown, R. A.’, ‘year’: 2002, ‘title’: ‘Evaluation of a behavioral measure of risk taking: The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART).’, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied’, ‘volume’: ‘8’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘75-84’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/1076-898x.8.2.75’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Lejuez, C. W., Read, J. P., Kahler, C. W., et al. (2002). Evaluation of a behavioral measure of risk taking: The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8(2), 75-84.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-898x.8.2.75’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Rao, H., Korczykowski, M., Pluta, J., Hoang, A., & Detre, J. A.’, ‘year’: 2008, ‘title’: ‘Neural correlates of voluntary and involuntary risk taking in the human brain: An fMRI Study of the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART)’, ‘venue’: ‘NeuroImage’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘NeuroImage’, ‘volume’: ‘42’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘902-910’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.05.046’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Rao, H., Korczykowski, M., Pluta, J., Hoang, A., & Detre, J. A. (2008). Neural correlates of voluntary and involuntary risk taking in the human brain. NeuroImage, 42(2), 902-910.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.05.046’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Schonberg, T., Fox, C. R., & Poldrack, R. A.’, ‘year’: 2011, ‘title’: ‘Mind the gap: bridging economic and naturalistic risk-taking with cognitive neuroscience’, ‘venue’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘volume’: ‘15’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘11-19’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.tics.2010.10.002’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Schonberg, T., Fox, C. R., & Poldrack, R. A. (2011). Mind the gap: Bridging economic and naturalistic risk-taking with cognitive neuroscience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 11-19.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.10.002’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
Recent references¶
{‘authors’: ‘Pleskac, T. J.’, ‘year’: 2008, ‘title’: ‘Decision making and learning while taking sequential risks.’, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition’, ‘volume’: ‘34’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘167-185’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0278-7393.34.1.167’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Pleskac, T. J. (2008). Decision making and learning while taking sequential risks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34(1), 167–185.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.34.1.167’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Wallsten, T. S., Pleskac, T. J., & Lejuez, C. W.’, ‘year’: 2005, ‘title’: ‘Modeling Behavior in a Clinically Diagnostic Sequential Risk-Taking Task.’, ‘venue’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘volume’: ‘112’, ‘issue’: ‘4’, ‘pages’: ‘862-880’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0033-295x.112.4.862’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Wallsten, T. S., Pleskac, T. J., & Lejuez, C. W. (2005). Modeling behavior in a clinically diagnostic sequential risk-taking task. Psychological Review, 112(4), 862–880.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.112.4.862’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Schonberg, T., Fox, C. R., & Poldrack, R. A.’, ‘year’: 2011, ‘title’: ‘Mind the gap: bridging economic and naturalistic risk-taking with cognitive neuroscience’, ‘venue’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘volume’: ‘15’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘11-19’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.tics.2010.10.002’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Schonberg, T., Fox, C. R., & Poldrack, R. A. (2011). Mind the gap: Bridging economic and naturalistic risk-taking with cognitive neuroscience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 11–19. [Updated: Helfinstein, S. M., et al. (2014). Predicting risky choices from brain activity patterns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(7), 2470–2475.]’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.10.002’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Hunt, M. K., Hopko, D. R., Bare, R., Lejuez, C. W., & Robinson, E. V.’, ‘year’: 2005, ‘title’: ‘Construct Validity of the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART)’, ‘venue’: ‘Assessment’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Assessment’, ‘volume’: ‘12’, ‘issue’: ‘4’, ‘pages’: ‘416-428’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1177/1073191105278740’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Hunt, M. K., Hopko, D. R., Bare, R., Lejuez, C. W., & Robinson, E. V. (2005). Construct validity of the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART). Assessment, 12(4), 416–428.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191105278740’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}