Somatic markers and explicit knowledge are both involved in decision-making.
In 1994, it was proposed that decision-making requires emotion-related signals, known as somatic markers. In contrast, some authors argued that conscious knowledge of contingencies is sufficient for advantageous decision-making. We aimed to investigate the respective roles of somatic markers and explicit knowledge in decision-making. Thirty healthy volunteers performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Conscious knowledge was assessed using a sensitive questionnaire and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were recorded. Most participants acquired a preference for advantageous choices during the task and generated larger anticipatory SCRs before disadvantageous relative to advantageous choices. Performance on the IGT and the autonomic response were positively correlated (r=0.38, p=0.045). Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference in performance according to conscious awareness (p=0.009). There was no significant association between level of explicit knowledge and SCR (p=0.1). Finally, we did not find any interaction between explicit knowledge and performance although a lack of statistical power is not to be excluded. Advantageous decision-making therefore seems to be associated with two distinct, namely implicit and explicit, systems.
University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France. s-guillaume@chu-montpellier.fr
Sébastien
S
Guillaume
Fabrice
F
Jollant
Isabelle
I
Jaussent
Natalia
N
Lawrence
Alain
A
Malafosse
Philippe
P
Courtet
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires