A Survey of the Iowa Gambling Task
Masa Vukcevic Markovic
Journal of Information Organization, Vol. 8, No. 4, 2018.
DOI: 
Link: http://www.dline.info/jio/fulltext/v8n4/jiov8n4_1.pdf
Abstract:
Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH) suggests that decision making in uncertainty relays on somatic markers â€“ emotional reactions reflected in bodily states which lead person towards advantageous decision making. Authors of SMH
created a task aiming to access decision making in uncertainty â€“ Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), suggesting that since healthy
participants tend to develop advantageous decision-making strategy, they will have good IGT performance. Recent studies
however, question good IGT performance among healthy participants thus imposing question on their advantageous decisionmaking
strategies. The aim of this study was to explore IGT performance among healthy participants. Participants (N=268)
filled standard version of IGT, consisting of 100 trials in which participants select cards from four decks: A and B, that bring
higher rewards and penalties (good decks) and C and D that bring small rewards and penalties (bad decks). At the beginning
of the IGT, participants get 2000$ of play money, with instruction to try to gain as much money as possible. Results show that
participants tend to lose rather than gain money, with almost half of participants showing impaired IGT performance. In
addition, results indicate that frequency of punishment, rather than overall goodness or decks is factor relevant for specific
deck selection. Study results question wheatear healthy participants apply advantageous decision-making strategies when
performing IGT, indicating that future studies are needed in order to explore factors contributing to advantageous decision
making in uncertainty.