Game of Dice Task
FREE for use with an Inquisit Lab or Inquisit Web license.Background
The Game of Dice Task (GDT) is a computerized neuropsychological assessment tool used to measure decision-making under explicit risk. Developed by Brand et al. in 2005, it uses a gambling paradigm to evaluate a person's ability to choose advantageous options when the rules, probabilities, and outcomes are clearly defined.
Task Procedure
The participant's main task is to win as much money as possible throughout a series of dice gambles. In each trial, the participant initiates a dice gamble (presented by a dice-rolling movie) by placing a bet on the outcome. The bets that can be placed differ in how specific a participant wants the prediction to be. For example, the participant can bet that the dice is part of a combination of 4 dice faces; or the participant can bet on one specific dice face instead. The more specific the bet, the lower the win probability and therefore the higher the possible wins and losses. The participant always has access to the possible win/loss amounts for each specific bet as well as to a visual summary of wins and losses over time. Once the participant clicks on a specific bet, the dice-rolling movie starts.
The task can be run with or without an explicit QUIT button.
What it Measures
The Game of Dice Task is a general assessment tool of decision-making under explicit risk
Psychological domains
- Decision-making: Response to potential rewards and losses over time
- Risk-taking: Preference for high-reward/high risk or low-reward/low-risk
Main Performance Metrics
- Net Score: Difference between the number of safe bets (bets on combinations of 3-4 faces) and risky bets (bets on combinations of 1-2 faces)
Psychiatric Conditions
Game of Dice performance tends to be impaired or enhanced in patients with the following psychiatric conditions.
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Huntington’s Disease
- Depression
- Schizophrenia
- Autism
Available Test Variations
The Game of Dice Task for assessing participants' aversion/attraction to risky decision. Participants attempt to predict the outcome of a dice roll by selecting among different options ranging from options with high-probability but low payoff to options with low probability but high payoff.
An adaptation of the game of dice task for adolescents used in the ABCD Consortium's longitudinal study on cognitive development from childhood to early adulthood.
An adaptation of the game of dice task for adolescents used in the ABCD Consortium's longitudinal study on cognitive development from childhood to early adulthood.
References
Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Game of Dice Task.
Brand, M., Greco, R., Schuster, A., Kalbe, E., Fujiwara, E., Markowitsch, H.J. & Kessler, J. (2002). The game of dice - a new test for the assessment of risktaking behavior. Neurorehabilitation & Neural Repair, 16, 142-143.
Brand, M., Fujiwara, E., Borsutzky, S., Kalbe, E., Kessler, J., Markowitsch, H.J., 2005. Decision-making deficits of Korsakoff patients in a new gambling task with explicit rules— associations with executive functions. Neuropsychology.
Brand, M., Labudda, K., Kalbe, E., Hilker, R., Emmans, D., Fuchs, G., Kessler, J., Markowitsch, H.J., 2005. Decision-making impairments in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Behavioural Neurology.