Iowa Gambling Task for Children

Background

The Iowa Gambling Task for Children is an adaptation of Bechara's Iowa Gambling Task created by Nancy Garon and colleagues for use with children ages 6 to 13. The procedure is mostly the same as the original IGT, but it uses 80 rather than 100 trials, and it represents gains and losses with animal pictures rather than monetary values.

Task Procedure

The participant is presented four decks of cards and instructed to draw a total of 80 cards, each from any of the decks, with each card resulting in a gain or loss of tokens. Unbeknowst to the respondent, the expected payoff differs between decks, with two decks having "advantageous" payoff schedules and two having "disadvantageous" schedules.

Advantageous - Low short-term rewards, low long-term gains Disadvantageous - High short-term rewards, high long-term losses

After each card, the respondent is notified of the gain (represented by panda bears) or loss (represented by snow leopards) along with their cumulative winings/losings.

What it Measures

The Iowa Gambling Task for Children is a general assessment of decision-making and impulsivity.

Psychological domains

• Decision-making: Response to potential rewards and lossse over time
• Risk-taking: Preference for high-reward/high risk or low-reward/low-risk
• Delay Discounting: Foregoing immediate rewards for better long-term outcomes

Main Performance Metrics

• Net Advantageous Selections: Difference between number of advantageous and disadvantageous selections
• Net Advantageous Selections Over Time: Difference between number of advantageous and disadvantageous selections in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth set of 20 trials

Psychiatric Conditions

IGT performance tends to be impaired or enhanced in patients with the following psychiatric conditions.

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Available Test Variations

References

Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Iowa Gambling Task for Children.

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Garon, N., C. Moore, and D.A.Waschbusch, Decision making in children with ADHD only,ADHD-anxious/depressed, and control children using a child version of the IowaGambling Task. J AttenDisord, 2006. 9(4): p. 607-19.