Gambling on individual differences in decision making

Normative performance on the Bechara–Damasio Gambling Task is highly variable. We investigate whether gamblers will be able to perform better than non-gamblers on the task. A second question that we answer concerns procedure, especially with respect to the instructions. For each group of 42 participants (gamblers, and non-gamblers), 21 received the standard instructions, while 21 were explicitly informed that “some decks are ‘better’ and some decks are ‘worse’.” Roughly 60% of the participants exhibited performance indicative of learning, while roughly 40% exhibited poor performance on the task. Neither variation in the instructions nor gambling experience influenced performance. In contrast, a thrill-and-adventure-seeking (TAS) component of sensation seeking was related to relatively poor performance on the task, as was trait impulsivity.