Investigation of Biases and Compensatory Strategies Using a Probabilistic Variant of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.

Alexis B Craig,Matthew E Phillips,Rajan Bhattacharyya,Jeffrey L Krichmar,Andrew Zaldivar

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00017

Alexis B Craig, Matthew E Phillips + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00017

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Abstract

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) evaluates a subject’s ability to shift to a new pattern of behavior in response to the presentation of unexpected negative feedback. The present study introduces a novel version of the traditional WCST by integrating a probabilistic component into its traditional rule shifting to add uncertainty to the task, as well as the option to forage for information during any particular trial. These changes transformed a task that is trivial for neurotypical individuals into a challenging environment useful for evaluating biases and compensatory strategizing. Sixty subjects performed the probabilistic WCST at four uncertainty levels to determine the effect of uncertainty on subject performance and strategy. Results revealed that increasing the level of uncertainty during a run of trials correlated with a reduction in rational strategizing in favor of both random choice and information foraging, evoking biases and suboptimal strategies such as satisfaction of search, negativity bias, and probability matching.

Highlights

Dating back to 1948, David Grant and Esta Berg’s Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a task that is commonly used in assessing the ability to “set-shift,” or change one’s way of thinking in the face of new goals or stimuli (Grant and Berg, 1948; Bishara et al, 2010)
Typical subject behavior was altered by changes in uncertainty level, as revealed by the number of times the Observe option was used in blocks of each uncertainty level
We showed that a probabilistic version of WCST with a means of information foraging is an effective tool for evaluating compensatory biases and suboptimal strategizing related to rational choice in economic decision-making

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Dating back to 1948, David Grant and Esta Berg’s Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a task that is commonly used in assessing the ability to “set-shift,” or change one’s way of thinking in the face of new goals or stimuli (Grant and Berg, 1948; Bishara et al, 2010). The present pWCST is hypothesized to evoke negativity bias while WCST would not, as pWCST is inherently more challenging due to the probabilistic rule, and in higher uncertainty levels, is expected to lead to higher amounts of negative feedback This may result in subjects spending more time foraging for information when they feel they are receiving too much negative feedback resulting from their choices. When a subject feels uncomfortable with their ability to identify and exploit the most valuable option, subjects may revert to probabilistic search for information about the rules of their present task (Gaissmaier and Schooler, 2008) Probability matching is another suboptimal decision framework that pWCST is expected to evoke where WCST would not, as it is a behavioral strategy that is employed during situations in which the subject receives probabilistic payoff, a novel inclusion in the pWCST paradigm. The first third of the condition presentation order was designed to TABLE 1 | Probability sets for Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION