title: Alexithymia, cumulative feedback, and differential response patterns on the Iowa Gambling Task.
abstract: Although the role of emotional processing is central to contemporary models of risky decision making, to date the role of trait emotional understanding has not been explored experimentally in this context. The current experiment (N=326) explores the role of alexithymia with respect to performance on the standard Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and a version where cumulative financial feedback is obscured. Standard learning on the IGT was observed for those low in alexithymia. Those high in alexithymia learned to avoid disadvantageous decks over the first half of the task. However, over the later trials they showed a change in performance, shifting from advantageous to disadvantageous and back to advantageous decks again (termed an "explore-learn-change-return" strategy). It is argued that this is due to an inability to fully consolidate earlier learning and reduced sensitivity to losses. The absence of cumulative feedback independently resulted in reduced performance.
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. eamonn.ferguson@nottingham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Eamonn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Bibby
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosamond
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Grady
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parcell
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amos
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCutcheon
authors.forename: Ronan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: O'Carroll
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D055815:Young Adult