What is it about?

Normative performance on the Bechara–Damasio Gambling Task is highly variable. We investigate whether gamblers will be able to perform better than non-gamblers on the task. A second question that we answer concerns procedure, especially with respect to the instructions. For each group of 42 participants (gamblers, and non-gamblers), 21 received the standard instructions, while 21 were explicitly informed that “some decks are ‘better’ and some decks are ‘worse’.” Roughly 60% of the participants exhibited performance indicative of learning, while roughly 40% exhibited poor performance on the task. Neither variation in the instructions nor gambling experience influenced performance. In contrast, a thrill-and-adventure-seeking (TAS) component of sensation seeking was related to relatively poor performance on the task, as was trait impulsivity.

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Perspectives

Nir's MA thesis with me, which resulted in this paper, looked at performance of gamblers on the IGT. The analysis at the individual level further develops the approach we presented in Cognition, 2007.

Professor Joseph Glicksohn
Bar-Ilan University

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This page is a summary of: Gambling on individual differences in decision making, Personality and Individual Differences, April 2010, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2009.12.006.
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