Decision-making and cognitive abilities: A review of associations between Iowa Gambling Task performance, executive functions, and intelligence

Abstract Objective Patients with prefrontal cortex damage often transgress social rules and show lower accuracy in identifying and explaining inappropriate social behavior. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between the ability to perceive other unintentional transgressions of social norms and both decision making and emotion recognition as these abilities are critical for appropriate social behavior. Method We examined a group of patients with focal prefrontal cortex damage (N = 28) and a group of matched control participants (N = 28) for their abilities to detect unintentional transgression of social norms using the “Faux-Pas” task of theory of mind, to make advantageous decisions on the Iowa gambling task, and to recognize basic emotions on the Ekman facial affect test. Results The group of patients with frontal lobe damage was impaired in all of these tasks compared with control participants. Moreover, all the “Faux-Pas”, Iowa gambling, and emotion recognition tasks were significantly associated and predicted by executive measures of inhibition, flexibility, or planning. However, only measures from the Iowa gambling task were associated and predicted performance on the “Faux-Pas” task. These tasks were not associated with performance in recognition of basic emotions. These findings suggest that theory of mind, executive functions, and decision-making abilities act in an interdependent way for appropriate social behavior. However, theory of mind and emotion recognition seem to have distinct but additive effects upon social behavior. Results from VLSM analysis also corroborate these data by showing a partially overlapped prefrontal circuitry underlying these cognitive domains.

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Evaluar la creatividad y las funciones ejecutivas: propuesta para la escuela del futuro

Revista Electrónica Interuniversitaria de Formación del Profesorado ◽

10.6018/reifop.456041 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Inmaculada Sánchez-Macías ◽

Jairo Rodríguez-Media ◽

José Luis Aparicio-Herguedas

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Working Memory ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Creative Thinking ◽

Formative Evaluation ◽

Iowa Gambling Task ◽

Gambling Task ◽

School Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Toma De Decisiones

Se presenta un estudio que pretende proponer estrategias de intervención didáctica y de evaluación para desarrollar y mejorar el funcionamiento ejecutivo y la creatividad en el alumnado de secundaria. Dicho estudio parte del análisis de las variables creatividad y funciones ejecutivas (memoria de trabajo (actualización), planificación, inhibición (verbal y motora), flexibilidad y toma de decisiones) medidas a través del Test de pensamiento creativo de Torrance(creatividad), la Escala de inteligencia de Weschler (WISC-IV, memoria de trabajo), Torre de Hanoi (planificación), Stroop (inhibición verbal), Go/no Go (inhibición motora), Test de Categorías de Wisconsin (flexibilidad) y el Iowa Gambling Task (toma de decisiones). Se han buscado las posibles relaciones entre las variables a partir de un diseño descriptivo, correlacional y transversal, en el que los resultados muestran que flexibilidad y creatividad se relacionan (r=) e inhibición verbal y creatividad también se relacionan (r=). A la luz de estos resultados se proponen estrategias metodológicas basadas en la investigación y la resolución de problemas y de evaluación formativa que insten, activando las funciones ejecutivas, a la autoevalución crítica, participada, la evaluación compartida con iguales. A study is presented that aims to propose didactic intervention and evaluation strategies to develop and improve executive functioning and creativity in secondary school students. Said study starts from the analysis of the variables creativity and executive functions (working memory (updating), planning, inhibition (verbal and motor), flexibility and decision-making) measured through the Torrance Creative Thinking Test (creativity), Weschler Intelligence Scale (WISC-IV, working memory), Tower of Hanoi (planning), Stroop (verbal inhibition), Go / no Go (motor inhibition), Wisconsin Category Test (flexibility) and the Iowa Gambling Task (decision making). The possible relationships between the variables have been sought from a descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional design, in which the results show that flexibility and creativity are related (r =) and verbal inhibition and creativity are also related (r =). In light of these results, methodological strategies based on research and problem solving and formative evaluation are proposed that encourage, activating executive functions, critical, participatory self-evaluation, shared evaluation with peers.

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