THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE AND EMOTION REGULATION IN THE IOWA GAMBLING TASK

ABSTRACT

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is commonly used to study the relationship between emotions and decision-making. In spite of its frequent use, there are important controversies related to this task. One of the most significant sources of disagreement concerns the role of declarative knowledge in guiding adaptive decisions. While some studies suggest that the driving forces are nonconscious somatic markers, other empirical investigations emphasize a more important role of declarative knowledge about the task. Our study provides new data in this debate. In a student sample (N = 48), we tested whether individual differences in habitual use of emotion regulation (ER) strategies might influence decisional outcome and acquisition of declarative knowledge. Our results provide further support for the account that declarative knowledge is important in supporting optimal decision-making outcomes. More specifically, level of confidence in declarative knowledge about the task is a premise of its use in effective decision-making. Moreover, we found that habitual use of reappraisal is correlated with decisional outcome, but not with the acquisition of declarative knowledge. This study raises questions regarding the mechanisms through which ER influences decision-making in the IGT.

KEYWORDS: declarative knowledge, emotion regulation, the Iowa Gambling Task, reappraisal.

PAGES: 35-53