Real life decision-making depends on a complex interplay between cognitive and emotion-based processes. Damasio (1994) developed the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH) arguing that emotion-based processes guide decision-making by directing individuals towards alternatives that have been previously ‘marked’ as positive or guide them away from the negative options. The primarily used test-bed of the emotion-based learning is Iowa Gambling Task (IGT, Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994). The SMH makes three assumptions about the IGT behaviour: (a) somatic markers have a negative connotation and bias decision-making covertly in the absence of explicit knowledge, (b) there is a limited role for cognitive procesesing during IGT performance, especially during the initial stages of the task, and (c) anticipatory somatic markers guide decision-choices away from the bad options as participants are able to anticipate the good and the bad options. This thesis tested the SMH using a combination of psychophysiological methods (Eye-tracking, Pupillometry, Heart Rate and Blood Pressure measurements), behavioural measurements and psychometric measures of individual differences in combination with the IGT. The systematic review, meta-analyses and the experiments described in this Thesis explored the validity of these assumptions and found that they are not accurately manifested in behaviour during IGT performance. A novel methodology not previously employed was used to capture somatic markers through pupillary responses. Explicit learning was also assessed by the eye-tracking methodology in testing IGT performance in normal conditions and under stress. The results from the first two experiments indicated that explicit processing and knowledge about the task are more critical factors during the early stages of the game than previously suggested. Although there were some indicators of the existence of somatic markers, it was found that cognitive reflection, conscious awareness and increased cognitive processing occurred early in the game and guided behaviour on IGT. The results from the final experiment revealed that IGT performance in healthy individuals is not always optimal; stress levels impaired performance whereby a lack of, or insufficient cognitive processing early in the game may create a somatic signal that interferes with IGT performance. Furthermore, attentional processing, cognitive reflection and conscious awareness can be disrupted by stress resulting in non-optimal decision-making strategies that consequently interfere with performance on the IGT. Taken together, these results challenge the basic premises of the SMH and could be best explained within the dual-process framework (e.g., Brevers, Bechara, Cleeremans, & Noel, 2013). If somatic markers do not play a significant role in learning IGT than the task needs to be re-evaluated and caution is warranted when the IGT is used as a diagnostic tool to measure decision-making deficits in clinical populations.

Frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha (α) asymmetry may index the activation of lateralized affect and motivation systems in humans. Resting EEG activation was measured and its relationship to Iowa gambling task (IGT) performance was evaluated. No effects were found for α power asymmetry. However, beta (β) power asymmetry, an alternative measure of resting EEG activation, was associated with the number of risky decisions made in the early portion of the task. Additionally, IGT deck selection patterns suggest there are at least three distinct performance styles in healthy individuals. Interestingly, β power asymmetry contradicts performance predictions based on accepted frontal asymmetry affect and motivation models.

Humans have a tendency to engage in economically irrational behaviors such as gambling, which typically leads to long-term financial losses. While there has been much research on human gambling behavior, relatively little work has been done to explore the evolutionary origins of this behavior. To examine the adaptive pressures that may have led to this seemingly irrational behavior in humans, nonhuman primates were tested to explore their reactions to gambling type scenarios. Several experiments based on traditional human economic experiments were adapted for use with a wider variety of primate species including chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys. This allowed for testing multiple species using similar methodologies in order to make more accurate comparisons of species abilities. This series of tasks helps to elucidate risky decision-making behavior in three primate species.

Frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha (α) asymmetry may index the activation of lateralized affect and motivation systems in humans. Resting EEG activation was measured and its relationship to Iowa gambling task (IGT) performance was evaluated. No effects were found for α power asymmetry. However, beta (β) power asymmetry, an alternative measure of resting EEG activation, was associated with the number of risky decisions made in the early portion of the task. Additionally, IGT deck selection patterns suggest there are at least three distinct performance styles in healthy individuals. Interestingly, β power asymmetry contradicts performance predictions based on accepted frontal asymmetry affect and motivation models.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Deficits in impulse control and decision-making have been implicated in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Individuals with AUD often make disadvantageous choices under conditions of probabilistic risk. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is often used to measure risky decision-making, in which impaired individuals tend to favor large, infrequent rewards even when punished for these choices, rather than smaller, safer, and more advantageous rewards. It remains poorly understood if these deficits are behaviors under genetic control and if ethanol intoxication may alter decision-making. High and Low Alcohol Preferring (HAP3 and LAP3, respectively) mice were trained on a novel gambling task to investigate these possible influences. In Experiment 1, HAP3s and LAP3s responded for a 0.1% saccharin solution, choosing between a risky and a safe option. Importantly, choosing the risky option was meant to be ultimately disadvantageous. In Experiment 2, these same HAP3 mice responded for saccharin or saccharin plus 10% ethanol. Contrary to hypothesis, LAP3s preferred the risky option more than HAP3s. Alcohol increased preference for the risky lever, but only in male mice. HAP3 preference for the safe lever may be explained by higher motivation to obtain sweet rewards, or higher overall avidity for responding. Ethanol-induced changes in male risk behavior may be explained by higher androgen levels, but further investigation is required. Similarly, continued research is necessary to optimize a risky decision-making task for both lines, and thus investigate possible genetic differences in risk acceptance that correlate with differences in alcohol intake.

No description available.

Rationale: Impulse control deficits are thought to underlie criminal offending. Impulsive choice is a facet of impulse control that refers to a preference for immediate over delayed rewards. This facet of impulse control has been measured empirically using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), which provides a metric of overall disadvantageous decision-making, as well as metrics of specific maladaptive decision-making strategies. Purpose: To investigate impulsive choice as a measure of impairment in offenders as reflected by performance on the IGT, and to examine maladaptive decision-making strategies that may mimic real-life decisions to engage in illegal behaviour. Methods: 100 Canadian federal offenders (34% female, mean age = 39.14 ± 9.74) and 89 controls (39% female, mean age = 37.04 ± 10.79) completed the IGT. The IGT involves repeatedly choosing cards from four decks. Two decks are “good” and result in a net gain on the task, and two decks are “bad” and result in a net loss. Decks offer a fixed reward, but vary in loss magnitude and frequency. IGT data were analyzed for net score (number of good choices minus number of bad choices), learning across the task, and deck switching patterns. Other assessments included data on offenders’ current sentence and risk for reoffence level. Results: Offenders performed significantly poorer than controls in terms of net score. Controls learned the advantageous strategy across the task but offenders did not. Offenders also made greater use of a “win-stay/lose-shift” strategy. Low-risk offenders performed significantly better than medium- or high-risk offenders on the IGT. Conclusion: These results suggest that, compared with controls, offenders tend to make riskier choices and use maladaptive decision-making strategies that provide a larger immediate reward but are disadvantageous in the long term. The IGT, as part of a comprehensive assessment of risk, may provide valuable information for preventing criminal offending and recidivism. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Criminal offending is thought to be related to impulse control problems. Research has linked offending to poor performance on a decision-making task known as the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). On the IGT, participants repeatedly choose cards from four decks that provide wins and losses of points. Two decks are “good” and result in an overall gain on the task, and two decks are “bad” and result in an overall loss. In this study, 100 Canadian federal offenders and 89 non-incarcerated control participants completed the IGT. Offenders performed worse than the control group overall, and control participants but not offenders learned the best strategy (i.e., choosing from good decks) over the course of the task. Additionally, offenders with a “Low” criminal risk rating did better than those at “Medium” or “High” risk levels. These results suggest that the IGT may provide important information about the cause and prevention of criminal offending.

The present study examines the relationship of emotional awareness to anticipatory psychophysiological markers and performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The IGT is a computerized card game that simulates real-life decisions through uncertainty of reward or punishment. The participant’s goal is to make advantageous card choices. Anticipatory somatic markers of physiological arousal, like electrodermal activity and heart rate, have been proposed to bias decisions in the IGT. The central hypothesis is that a participant’s emotional awareness is related to their ability to make advantageous decisions through biasing psychophysiological responses. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to assess each participant’s emotional awareness. Less emotional awareness was associated with enhanced performance on the IGT. However, anticipatory physiological arousal (electrodermal activity and heart rate) and emotional awareness yielded no significant relationships. Findings suggest a need for further research on cognitive models, such as the expectancy valence model, in relation to decision-making.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-05-19T17:17:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_CAROLINE_DE_OLIVEIRA_CARDOSO_PARCIAL.pdf: 618311 bytes, checksum: 617af8f476a59ecf1a655ae941aa2963 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-19T17:17:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_CAROLINE_DE_OLIVEIRA_CARDOSO_PARCIAL.pdf: 618311 bytes, checksum: 617af8f476a59ecf1a655ae941aa2963 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-01-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) / There is relative consensus that low level and quality of education are limiting factors of a country?s growth. Statistics show that many students have difficulties in learning or do not display the necessary abilities to succeed academically. Trying to reduce such difficulties, neuropsychology has developed remediation and rehabilitation interventions. There is, however, a need to invest in intervention programs that promote cognitive health and stimulate neurocognitive skills among children. These programs may potentiate cognitive processes and lead to short and long term benefits. Evidence shows that the executive functions (EF) have a crucial role in education, and are relevant in learning and in autoregulatory behavior. Given this context, the objective of this thesis was to develop and verify the effectiveness of an early and preventive neuropsychological intervention program with the intent of stimulating the EF among Elementary School students. The program was called Program of Neuropsychological Stimulation of Cognition in Students: emphasis on Executive Functions, or PENcE (an acronym from its original name in Portuguese, Programa de Estimula??o Neuropsicol?gica da Cogni??o em Escolares: ?nfase nas Fun??es Executivas). The First Study performed a systematic review of empirical studies about neuropsychological interventions of EF among children with typical development, looking for an overview that could guide the construction of the PENcE. Nineteen studies were found through the PRISMA method: most of them provided evidences that the children who participated in the intervention programs improved their executive functions. For the most part, they used computerized cognitive training to stimulate working memory. Other studies proposed a curricular approach to potentiate autoregulation. It was possible to observe that the studies are very heterogenic in terms of approach, methods, and closing measurement tools. Computerized trainings seem improve trained cognitive skills, but are limited in terms of transferring gains. Curricular programs seem more generalizable, with effects on transferring gains and functionality. The objective of the Second Study was to present the process of construction and content validity evidences for the PENcE. There were four steps involved in reaching that goal: internal stage of program organization; program construction; analysis by expert judges; and data integration and program finalization. All stages were important and contributed to improve the program. Furthermore, the assessment of the program (global and of each module) presented a level of agreement among judges equal to one, allowing for the achievement of content validity evidences. Finally, the Third Study investigated the effectiveness of the PENcE among children attending 3rd and 4th grades of Elementary School. It also analyzed the effects of transferring to other skills (executive, cognitive, academic, behavioral) beyond the main executive closings. From an initial sample of 160 children, 113 participated in the study. They were divided into two groups: experimental group (EG) (n=64) and control group (CG) (n=49). There were no differences between the groups before the intervention. After the study, the groups were compared, and the EG presented significant gains in inhibitory control, working memory, and abstract planning. There were transferring effects to other cognitive abilities (such as attention and fluid thinking), academic abilities (math and written skills), and changes in behavior (relationship and behavioral problems), and the overcame the CG. As a group, the findings from the three studies offer an early and preventive intervention program that has theoretical basis, has followed a rigorous construction process, and possesses content validity and effectiveness analysis. For future studies, it is suggested to extend and adapt the program to other age groups and to children who already present executive deficits, including learning difficulties and ADHD. Moreover, with the goal of contributing to public policies, it is recommended that the PENcE be implemented in public schools in developing countries, helping to bridge the gap between neuropsychology and education in a practical way. / Atualmente, h? relativo consenso de que o baixo n?vel educacional e a reduzida qualidade do processo de escolariza??o s?o fatores limitadores de crescimento de um pa?s. Al?m disso, as estimativas mostram que um elevado n?mero de alunos apresenta dificuldades de aprendizagem ou n?o apresenta habilidades necess?rias para ter sucesso acad?mico. Na tentativa de contribuir com a diminui??o de tais dificuldades, a neuropsicologia desenvolveu predominantemente interven??es de remedia??o e de reabilita??o. Destaca-se, contudo, a necessidade de se investir em programas de interven??es de promo??o ? sa?de cognitiva e de estimula??o de habilidades neurocognitivas em crian?as, uma vez que tais programas podem potencializar os processos cognitivos e levar a benef?cios de curto a longo prazo. Com o avan?o da neuropsicologia, h? evid?ncias de que as fun??es executivas (FE) t?m um papel crucial na educa??o e s?o relevantes para aprendizagem e comportamento autorregulat?rio. Frente a esse contexto, essa tese teve como objetivo desenvolver e verificar a efetividade de um programa de interven??o neuropsicol?gica precoce-preventiva em busca da estimula??o das FE em escolares no Ensino Fundamental I. Tal programa foi denominado Programa de Estimula??o Neuropsicol?gica da Cogni??o em Escolares: ?nfase nas fun??es executivas (PENcE). No primeiro estudo, a partir de uma revis?o sistem?tica, buscou-se caracterizar os estudos emp?ricos sobre interven??es neuropsicol?gicas de FE em crian?as com desenvolvimento t?pico, em busca de um panorama que norteasse a constru??o do PENcE. Seguindo o m?todo PRISMA, foram encontrados 19 estudos e a maioria forneceu evid?ncias que as crian?as que participaram dos programas de interven??o melhoraram suas habilidades executivas. A maioria utilizou o treino cognitivo computadorizado, envolvendo a estimula??o da mem?ria de trabalho. Outros propuseram uma abordagem curricular com intuito de potencializar a autorregula??o. Foi poss?vel verificar que os estudos s?o bastante heterog?neos em rela??o a tipos de abordagem, m?todos e instrumentos de medida de desfecho. Contudo, os treinos computadorizados parecem levar a uma melhora na habilidade cognitiva treinada, por?m, s?o limitados em termos de transfer?ncia de ganhos. Os programas de abordagem curricular, por sua vez, parecem mais generaliz?veis, com efeito de transfer?ncia e ganho na funcionalidade. No Estudo 2, objetivou-se apresentar o processo de constru??o e evid?ncias de validade de conte?do do PENcE. Para isso, quatro etapas foram realizadas: fase interna de organiza??o do programa; constru??o do programa; an?lise de ju?zes especialistas; integra??o dos dados e finaliza??o do programa. Todas as etapas foram essenciais e contribu?ram para aprimorar o programa. Al?m disso, evidenciou-se que a avalia??o global do programa e de cada um dos m?dulos apresentou um n?vel de concord?ncia de 1,0 entre os ju?zes, permitindo obter evid?ncias de validade de conte?do. Por fim, no Estudo 3 buscou-se investigar a efetividade do PENcE em crian?as do 3? ou 4? ano do Ensino Fundamental, bem como, analisar o efeito de transfer?ncia para outras habilidades executivas e cognitivas, habilidades acad?micas e comportamento, para al?m dos desfechos executivos principais. De uma amostra inicial de 160 crian?as, 113 participaram do estudo e foram subdivididas em dois grupos: grupo experimental (GE) (n=64) e grupo controle (GC) (n=49). Os grupos n?o se diferenciaram em nenhuma medida na avalia??o pr?-interven??o. Na compara??o dos grupos, verificou-se o GE apresentou ganhos significativos de controle inibit?rio, mem?ria de trabalho, planejamento abstrato. Houve efeito de transfer?ncia para outras habilidades cognitivas (como aten??o e racioc?nio fluido), habilidades acad?micas (matem?tica e escrita) e mudan?a no comportamento (relacionamento e problemas de conduta), sendo que o GE superou o GC. Em conjunto, os achados dos tr?s estudos contribuem disponibilizando um programa de interven??o precoce-preventiva, que possui embasamento te?rico, que seguiu um rigoroso processo de constru??o e que denota de validade de conte?do e de an?lise de efetividade. Sugere-se, para os pr?ximos estudos, estender e adaptar o programa para outras faixas et?rias e para grupos de crian?as que j? apresentam d?ficits executivos, como com transtornos espec?ficos de aprendizagem e TDAH. Al?m disso, visando a contribuir com as pol?ticas p?blicas, recomenda-se que o PENcE possa ser implementado em escolas p?blicas nos pa?ses em desenvolvimento, rumo a uma interface cada vez mais pr?tica entre neuropsicologia e educa??o.

The present study examines the relationship of emotional awareness to anticipatory psychophysiological markers and performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The IGT is a computerized card game that simulates real-life decisions through uncertainty of reward or punishment. The participant’s goal is to make advantageous card choices. Anticipatory somatic markers of physiological arousal, like electrodermal activity and heart rate, have been proposed to bias decisions in the IGT. The central hypothesis is that a participant’s emotional awareness is related to their ability to make advantageous decisions through biasing psychophysiological responses. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to assess each participant’s emotional awareness. Less emotional awareness was associated with enhanced performance on the IGT. However, anticipatory physiological arousal (electrodermal activity and heart rate) and emotional awareness yielded no significant relationships. Findings suggest a need for further research on cognitive models, such as the expectancy valence model, in relation to decision-making.