Game Of Dice Task Performance Research Articles

Decision-Making Profiles and Their Associations with Cognitive Performance in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

It is crucial for older adults, especially those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), to make profitable decisions routinely. However, the results regarding decision-making (DM) remain inconsistent. The present study assessed DM profiles under uncertainty conditions in individuals with MCI and their associations with multi-domain cognitive performance. Fifty-three patients with MCI and forty-two age-, gender-, and education level-matched healthy controls (HCs) were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery test. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Game of Dice Task (GDT) were used to assess DM competence in conditions involving ambiguity and risk, respectively. In addition, Spearman's correlations were used to examine relationships between GDT and multi-domain cognitive performance. The final capital (FC) and frequency of utilization of negative feedback (FUNF) and positive feedback (FUPF) in the GDT were lower in MCI patients than in HCs. In addition, the number of shifts between safe and risky alternatives was significantly different across groups. However, IGT performance was comparable across groups. In the MCI patients, risky DM performance was associated with language, whereas in HCs was correlated with memory and executive functions. Besides, in MCI, performance on IGT was significantly correlated with social cognition. Individuals with mild cognitive impairment have difficulty utilizing feedback to make optimal decisions under risky situations. The association between decision-making performance and cognitive function is divergent regarding situational uncertainty and individuals' cognitive status. In mild cognitive impairment and normal aging, decision-making under ambiguity needs further investigation.

Impaired decision-making under risk in patients with functional dyspepsia

ABSTRACT Introduction The cognitive processing in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) has not been well established. Decision-making is an important component of cognitive function. Most brain regions involved in decision-making are abnormal in FD patients. This study aimed to investigate the decision-making under ambiguity and risk in FD patients. Methods We recruited 40 FD patients meeting Rome III criteria and 40 healthy controls (HCs) matched for age, sex, marital status, and education level. The Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and the 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-17) were used to evaluate their anxiety and depression emotions. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Game of Dice Task (GDT) were used to evaluate decision-making under ambiguity and risk, respectively. Helicobacter pylori status, disease duration, dyspeptic symptom score, and the Nepean Dyspepsia Life Quality Index (NDLQI) were obtained from all patients. Results In IGT, FD patients had a lower total net score, chose more adverse choices, and showed a slower response to change their behavior than HCs. However, there was no significant difference in the net score of the first 2 blocks between the two groups. In GDT, FD patients had a lower total net score, higher risk score, and lower use of negative feedback than HCs. In addition, FD patients showed better GDT performance than those without early satiation. Conclusions FD patients showed impaired decision-making under risk. The deficiency might be related to dyspeptic symptoms of FD patients.

Decision support in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Making advantageous decisions is a key competence of individuals of all ages. However, previous studies reported a reduction of this competence in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, which is explained by impairments of executive functions such as cognitive flexibility or working memory. While previous findings from healthy participants with reduced executive functions showed that support can improve decision making under risk, the study at hand aimed to investigate this effect in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease (mAD).Method: A group of elderly individuals diagnosed with mAD (n = 14; mean Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE = 24.14, SD = 3.18) and a group of healthy age-matched controls (n = 14; mean MMSE = 29.29, SD = 1.98) performed the Game of Dice Task (GDT) three times (t0, t1, t2) with intervals of five to nine days between each: The standard GDT plus other neurocognitive tasks (t0), the GDT with decision support (t1), and again the standard GDT (t2).Results: At any time, mAD patients made more disadvantageous decisions than controls. However, the decision-making performance of mAD patients improved significantly with decision support. Interestingly, when the standard GDT was played again (t2), mAD patients’ performance remained similar to the performance in the GDT with decision support (t1). GDT performance correlated consistently with executive function measures in the control group, but only at t0 in the mAD group.Conclusions: The findings indicate that supportive information about the riskiness of options can compensate for mAD-related deficits in decision making under risk. Thus, decision support can improve the quality of mAD patients’ decisions. Further, it may prevent mAD patients from making highly risky decisions in similar situations in the future. The persistence of decision support should be further investigated as it has relevant implications for everyday decisions that include risks.

Response inhibition and impulsive decision-making in sexual offenders against children.

Current theories view impulsivity as an important factor in the explanation of sexual offending. While impulsivity itself is a multidimensional construct, response inhibition and impulsive decision-making are frequently discussed subcomponents. Impulsivity in sexual offenders could be triggered by sexual cues with high emotional significance. The present study compared response inhibition abilities and the degree of impulsive decision-making between 63 child sexual abusers and 63 nonoffending controls. A Go/No-Go task was used to assess response inhibition, while the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT) were used for the assessment of decision-making. In contrast to previous studies, modified versions of the Go/No-Go task and the IGT were used, including pictures of the Not Real People-Set depicting nude adults and children. Child sexual abusers showed more deficits in response inhibition in the Go/No-Go task. Furthermore, decision-making was especially impaired by the presence of child images in child sexual abusers with more intense pedophilic sexual interests. In contrast, in the nonoffending controls the presence of preferred sexual cues (pictures of women) improved decision-making performance. No differences in overall GDT performance were found between the groups; however, child sexual abusers chose the riskiest option more frequently than nonoffending controls. In line with theoretical assumptions about the processes underlying sexual offending, child sexual abusers show more deficits in neuropsychological functioning, which may be related to more impulsive behaviors. These impairments could be triggered by the presence of sexually relevant cues. (PsycINFO Database Record

Selective impairment of decision making under ambiguity in alexithymia

BackgroundAlexithymia is characterised by difficulties identifying and describing emotions. Few studies have investigated how alexithymia influences decision-making under different conditions (ambiguity and risk). This study aimed to examine whether alexithymia contributes to impairment in decision-making.MethodThis study included 42 participants with high scores in the Chinese version of Toronto Alexithymia Scale (alexithymia group), and 44 matched subjects with low scores (control group). Decision-making was measured using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT).ResultsThe main findings of this study revealed selective deficits in IGT performance for the alexithymia group, while GDT performance was unimpaired when compared with the control group. In IGT, total netscores were lower for the alexithymia group compared to the control group, particularly with regard to block 5. Moreover, the alexithymia individuals selected significantly more adverse cards than the controls, indicating significant decision-making impairments.ConclusionAlexithymia selectively influences decision-making under ambiguity.

Determinants of risk-taking in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.

Decision-making involves fronto-striatal brain areas that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of HIV infection. Some studies report impaired decision-making in people with HIV/AIDS with past or present addictions and/or accompanying HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The authors investigated risk-based decision-making in HIV/AIDS, separating individuals with or without accompanying HAND. A total of 288 HIV-infected persons underwent standardized neuropsychological testing. Participants were profiled based on neuropsychological and clinical assessments into 2 groups, neurocognitively normal (NN, n = 205) and HAND (n = 83). Risk-based decision-making was assessed via the Game of Dice Task (GDT). Sample characteristics were summarized by principal component analysis (PCA) prior to regression analyses predicting GDT performance. The NN group performed within the normative range of the GDT, but the HAND group was impaired in all GDT measures. Across all participants, GDT performance was predicted by a combination of psychiatric comorbidities, alcohol abuse, education/premorbid IQ, and neuropsychological performance. Further analyses revealed marijuana use as an important additional predictor of impaired GDT performance. Within the GDT-impaired HAND group only, past or present immunosuppression emerged as the most robust predictor of GDT performance. Metabolic disorders and antiretroviral toxicity were also predictors of GDT performance in the HAND group. The majority of HIV-infected individuals were unimpaired in the GDT. Some influence of psychiatric and substance use comorbidities on GDT performance emerged in the entire cohort. However, GDT deficits were restricted to individuals with HAND, related to immunosuppression, metabolic disorders and antiretroviral toxicity in this group only. (PsycINFO Database Record

Response inhibition, set shifting, and complex executive function in patients with chronic lower back pain

ObjectiveThe aim of our study was to evaluate how response inhibition, set shifting, and complex executive function (represented by risky decision-making) are altered in chronic lower back pain patients. Materials and methodsA total of 29 patients with chronic lower back pain (CLBP >6 months) aged 49–69 years and 30 healthy volunteers matched for age, gender, and education were enrolled in a case–control study. The study was conducted in the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Panevėžys Regional Hospital, Lithuania. Pain was evaluated by the visual analog scale, Pakula Pain Questionnaire (Lithuanian analog of McGill Pain Questionnaire), and Fibromyalgia Tender Points Examination. A battery of neuropsychological tests used included Stroop Test Victoria version, Trail Making Test parts A and B, and Game of Dice Task (GDT). ResultsCLBP patients did not score significantly worse in any examined neuropsychological tests. Response Inhibition correlated inversely with number of tender points in CLBP patients. GDT performance showed no significant difference in net score (number of safe minus risky decisions). Unexpectedly, both groups favored risky decisions. ConclusionsWe found no statistically significant difference in response inhibition, set shifting, or complex executive function between CLBP patients and healthy older adults. Moreover, a risky decision-making pattern found in the Lithuanian population may underscore the importance of cultural context when examining complex executive function. However, further studies are needed to prove this point.

Decision-making under explicit risk is impaired in multiple sclerosis: relationships with ventricular width and disease disability.

BackgroundDecision-making is an essential function of everyday life. Decision-making under explicit risk requires developing advantageous decision strategies based on fixed outcomes (e.g., probabilities of winning or losing a bet). Decision-making and its neural substrates have been rarely studied in MS. We expected performance in decision-making under risk to be lowered in MS patients, and negatively correlated with disease-related disability, cognition, and ventricular width.MethodsThree groups were included: 32 MS patients and 20 healthy controls were examined with conventional neuropsychological tests and the Game-of-Dice Task (GDT) assessing decision-making under explicit risk. Linear 2-D ventricular width was assessed on MS patients’ clinical MRIs and compared to a third group, 20 non-MS neurological control patients.ResultsCompared to healthy controls, MS patients showed impaired GDT and neuropsychological performance, depending on the MS-subtype (relapsing-remitting (RR), n = 22; secondary progressive, n = 10) and disability severity among RR-MS patients. In MS patients, GDT performance correlated with processing speed, intercaudate ratio, and third ventricle ratio (p’s < 0.05). Mediation analysis showed that the link between GDT performance and processing speed was fully explained by ventricular size.ConclusionDecision-making under explicit risk was reduced in MS patients, but only those with more pronounced disability. Independent of processing speed, decision-making under explicit risk correlates inversely with central atrophy in MS.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12883-015-0318-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Further evidence of a dissociation between decision-making under ambiguity and decision-making under risk in obsessive–compulsive disorder

BackgroundDeficits in decision-making have been suggested as a key concept in understanding the symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). However, evidence in the extant literature remains inconclusive on whether patients with OCD show inferior performance on laboratory decision-making tasks. The aims of the present study were therefore to (1) assess decision-making under ambiguity and under risk in patients with OCD and (2) study the influence of neuropsychological and clinical variables on decision-making in OCD. MethodsThe sample consisted of 65 patients with OCD and 58 controls. The Iowa gambling task (IGT) and the game of dice task (GDT) were used to examine decision-making under ambiguity and decision-making under risk, respectively. In addition, reversal learning and executive function were assessed in terms of their relationship with decision-making tasks. ResultsPatients with OCD showed impairment in the IGT, but not in the GDT. Reversal learning was neither impaired nor correlated with IGT performance. Among the clinical variables, illness severity and depression were associated with IGT scores. Executive function was impaired, but no significant relationship was found between executive function and GDT performance in OCD patients. LimitationsAlmost all OCD patients were on medication when they performed decision-making tasks. ConclusionsPatients with OCD are impaired in decision-making under ambiguity, but not under risk. These findings demonstrate that decision-making processes are dissociated in OCD.

Decision-making impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis: a case–control study

ObjectivesTo assess decision-making under explicit risk conditions in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis patients and its relationship to decisions made under conditions of ambiguity. To assess cognitive functions related to decision-making performance...

Decision-making impairments in breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen

The selective estrogen receptor modulator tamoxifen (TAM) is most commonly prescribed for patients with hormone-sensitive breast cancer. Although TAM can bind to estrogen receptors in the nervous system, it is unknown whether it acts as an estrogen agonist or antagonist in the human brain. Several studies have reported the negative effects of TAM on cognitive function; however, its effects on decision-making function have not been previously explored. The present study aimed to investigate the decision-making function under ambiguity and risk in breast cancer patients treated with TAM. Participants included breast cancer patients taking TAM (TAM, n=47) and breast cancer patients not taking TAM (non-TAM, n=45) as well as their matched healthy controls (HC, n=50). All participants were given the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess their decision-making under conditions involving ambiguity, the Game of Dice Task (GDT) to assess their decision-making under conditions involving risk, and a battery of neuropsychological tests. Our results indicated that patients in the TAM group were significantly impaired as assessed by both the IGT and GDT and performed significantly worse on some aspects of various tasks involving memory and information processing. Furthermore, we found that decreased performance on verbal memory testing significantly correlated with IGT performance, and executive dysfunction was associated with poor GDT performance in breast cancer patients undergoing TAM treatment. This study demonstrates that breast cancer patients taking TAM have several decision-making impairments. These findings may support the idea that TAM resulting in cognitive changes plays an antagonistic role in the areas of the brain where estrogen receptors are present, including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala.

Dissociation of decision making under ambiguity and decision making under risk in breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy: A neuropsychological study

There is evidence that women with breast cancer show a cognitive impairment after having undergone chemotherapy treatment; this cognitive impairment may result in behavioral deficits. However, the neural mechanism of this cognitive impairment remains unclear. The present study investigated the neural basis of the cognitive impairment caused by chemotherapy treatment by exploring the decision-making function of the executive subcomponents under ambiguity and risk in breast cancer survivors. Participants included breast cancer patients who had undergone chemotherapy (CT, N=63) or patients who did not undergo chemotherapy (non-CT, N=62), as well as matched healthy controls (HC, N=61). All participants were examined using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess their decision-making under ambiguity, the Game of Dice Task (GDT) to assess their decision-making under risk and neuropsychological background tests. Our results indicated that during the IGT test, the chemotherapy-treated breast cancer patients selected from the disadvantageous decks with a higher frequency than the non-treated breast cancer patients or healthy controls, whereas all three groups performed at the same level when performing the GDT. The CT group demonstrated significantly lower scores in several cognitive tasks, including attention, memory, executive functions and cognitive processing, when compared with the other two groups. In addition, within the CT group, significant correlations were found between the IGT performance and information processing, as well as with working memory. This study demonstrated that breast cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy may have selective reductions in IGT performance but unimpaired GDT performance and that these deficits may result from dysfunctions in the limbic loop rather than in the dorsolateral prefrontal loop.

Executive functions, categorization of probabilities, and learning from feedback: What does really matter for decision making under explicit risk conditions?

In two experiments with healthy subjects, we used the Game of Dice Task (GDT), the Probability-Associated Gambling (PAG) task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and executive-function and logical thinking tasks to shed light on the underlying processes of decision making under risk. Results indicate that handling probabilities, as in the PAG task, is an important ingredient of GDT performance. Executive functions and logical thinking also play major roles in deciding in the GDT. Implicit feedback learning, as measured by the IGT, has little impact. Results suggest that good probability handling may compensate for the effects of weak executive functions in decisions under risk.

The influence of high-normal testosterone levels on risk-taking in healthy males in a 1-week letrozole administration study

Human studies on the relation between testosterone levels and risk-taking behaviour are scarce. Related functions, like aggression, have been related to higher testosterone levels more consistently, especially in the animal literature. Estradiol affects several neurotransmitter systems that play a role in behaviour regulation. Existing human studies on neurocognitive functions and testosterone levels have largely ignored the interrelatedness of testosterone levels and estradiol levels. Therefore, in this study, the effects of a 1-week combined testosterone and estradiol intervention on risk-taking behaviours were investigated. Twenty-one healthy men, with a normal body mass index, were treated for 7 days with an aromatase inhibitor (letrozole 2.5 mg), resulting in high-normal levels of testosterone and low-normal levels of estradiol, or with a combination of an aromatase inhibitor and estradiol (75 μg/24 h), resulting in low-normal levels of testosterone and high-normal levels of estradiol. A randomized experimenter and participant-blind controlled design was applied. Neurocognitive measures of risk-taking and reward and punishment sensitivity were assessed before starting with the medication and after 7 days of drug administration: Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), Game of Dice Task (GDT), and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). A group by time effect was present for the BART, indicating that the high-normal testosterone group showed an increase in risk-taking on the BART, from the first drug-naive BART performance, to the second BART performance (aromatase inhibitor), whereas such an increase was not present in the low-normal testosterone/high estradiol group. No group by time interactions were present in GDT or IGT performance. These results implicate that testosterone levels in healthy men are associated with increased risk-taking under conditions of unknown probabilities, but not in conditions of known probabilities (GDT) or of strategic decision making (IGT).

Dissociation of decision-making under ambiguity and decision-making under risk in patients with Parkinson's disease: A neuropsychological and psychophysiological study

Decision-making impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) are most likely associated with dysfunctions in fronto-striatal loops. Recent studies examined decision-making in PD either in ambiguous situations with implicit rules, using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), or in risky situations with explicit rules, using the Game of Dice Task (GDT). Both tasks have been associated with the limbic-orbitofrontal-striatal loop, involved in emotional processing. However, the GDT has additionally been highly associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal-striatal loop, being involved in executive functions. The present study is the first one which examined decision-making in PD patients with both, IGT and GDT. We studied 21 non-demented PD patients on dopaminergic medication and 23 healthy controls with both tasks and a neuropsychological test battery with focus on executive functions. To analyse possible abnormalities in emotional processing, electrodermal responses (EDRs) were assessed while performing the tasks. We found that PD patients were significantly impaired in the GDT, but not in the IGT. Executive dysfunctions correlated with GDT but not with IGT performance. In both tasks, PD patients showed significantly reduced feedback EDRs after losses, but not after gains, indicating a primary decline of sensitivity to negative feedback. Our behavioural data suggest that dysfunctions in the dorsolateral prefrontal loop might be stronger than in the limbic loop, resulting in deficits in executive functions and GDT performance but unimpaired IGT performance. Reduced sensitivity to negative feedback is discussed with regard to dysfunctions in the limbic loop, which may result from pathology of limbic structures or dopaminergic medication.

Personality and decision-making in laboratory gambling tasks – Evidence for a relationship between deciding advantageously under risk conditions and perfectionism

Neuropsychological mechanisms of decision-making under ambiguity and risk were investigated with increasing interest in the last two decades by several working groups and with a wide range of patient populations. However, relatively little is known about individual differences in making decisions under ambiguity or risk conditions in healthy subjects. We investigated potential links between performing neuropsychological decision-making tasks, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) measuring decisions under ambiguity, and the Game of Dice Task (GDT) assessing decisions under risk, and several personality traits in a sample of 58 healthy volunteers (30 males). We found correlations between performance on the GDT and specific core facets of perfectionism such as concern over mistakes and personal standards. Additionally, we observed an interaction effect of the latter two variables on GDT performance. Other personality traits assessed (behavioral inhibition and behavioral approach system, big five) were not significantly related to decision-making. IGT performance was not significantly related to perfectionism and other personality traits. We conclude that in risky situations in which explicit rules for rewards and punishments and probabilities are stipulated, perfectionism can influence decision-making, while other personality traits play a minor role in decisions with ambiguous information about the potential outcomes.

Executive functions and risky decision-making in patients with opiate dependence

Recent evidence suggests that individuals with opiate dependence may have cognitive dysfunctions particularly within the spectrum of executive functioning and emotional processing. Such dysfunctions can also compromise daily decisions associated with risk-taking behaviors. However, it remains unclear whether patients addicted to opiates show impaired decision-making on gambling tasks that specify explicit rules for rewards and punishments and provide information about probabilities associated with different long-term outcomes. In this study, we examined 18 individuals with opiate dependence and 18 healthy comparison subjects, matched for age, gender, and education with the Game of Dice Task (GDT). The GDT is a gambling task with explicit rules for gains and losses and fix winning probabilities. In addition, all subjects completed a neuropsychological test battery that primarily focused on executive functions and a personality questionnaire. On the GDT, patients chose the risky alternatives more frequently than the control group. Patients’ GDT performance was related to executive functioning but not to other neuropsychological constructs, personality or dependence specific variables with one exception that is the number of days of abstinence. Thus, patients with opiate dependence demonstrate abnormalities in decision-making that might be neuropsychologically associated with dysfunctional behavior in patients’ daily lives. Decision-making and other neuropsychological functioning should be considered in the treatment of opiate dependence.

Anticipatory stress influences decision making under explicit risk conditions.

Recent research has suggested that stress may affect memory, executive functioning, and decision making on the basis of emotional feedback processing. The current study examined whether anticipatory stress affects decision making measured with the Game of Dice Task (GDT), a decision-making task with explicit and stable rules that taps both executive functioning and feedback learning. The authors induced stress in 20 participants by having them anticipate giving a public speech and also examined 20 comparison subjects. The authors assessed the level of stress with questionnaires and endocrine markers (salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase), both revealing that speech anticipation led to increased stress. Results of the GDT showed that participants under stress scored significantly lower than the comparison group and that GDT performance was negatively correlated with the increase of cortisol. Our results indicate that stress can lead to disadvantageous decision making even when explicit and stable information about outcome contingencies is provided.

P.6.a.001 The difference of decision-making pattern under ambiguity and risk between alcohol dependence and schizophrenia

Recent studies have examined the decision-making ability of schizophrenic patients using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). These studies, however, were restricted to the assessment of emotional decision-making. Decision-making depends on cognitive functions as well as on emotion. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of schizophrenic patients on the IGT and the Game of Dice Task (GDT), a decision-making task with explicit rules for gains and losses. In addition, it was intended to test whether poor performance on IGT is attributable to impairments in reversal learning within the schizophrenia group using the Simple Reversal Learning Task (SRLT), which is sensitive to measure the deficit of reversal learning following ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage. A group of 23 stable schizophrenic patients and 28 control subjects performed computerized versions of the IGT, GDT, SRLT and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). While schizophrenic patients performed poorly on the IGT relative to normal controls, there was no significant difference between the two groups on GDT performance. The performance of the schizophrenia group on the SRLT was poorer than that of controls, but was not related to IGT performance. These data suggest that schizophrenic patients have impaired emotional decision-making but intact cognitive decision-making, suggesting that these two processes of decision-making are different. Furthermore, the impairments in reversal learning did not contribute to poor performance on the IGT in schizophrenia. Therefore, schizophrenic patients have difficulty in making decisions under ambiguous and uncertain situations whereas they make choices easily in clear and unequivocal ones. The emotional decision-making deficits in schizophrenia might be attributable more to another mechanism such as a somatic marker hypothesis than to an impairment in reversal learning.

Dissociation of emotional decision-making from cognitive decision-making in chronic schizophrenia

Recent studies have examined the decision-making ability of schizophrenic patients using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). These studies, however, were restricted to the assessment of emotional decision-making. Decision-making depends on cognitive functions as well as on emotion. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of schizophrenic patients on the IGT and the Game of Dice Task (GDT), a decision-making task with explicit rules for gains and losses. In addition, it was intended to test whether poor performance on IGT is attributable to impairments in reversal learning within the schizophrenia group using the Simple Reversal Learning Task (SRLT), which is sensitive to measure the deficit of reversal learning following ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage. A group of 23 stable schizophrenic patients and 28 control subjects performed computerized versions of the IGT, GDT, SRLT and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). While schizophrenic patients performed poorly on the IGT relative to normal controls, there was no significant difference between the two groups on GDT performance. The performance of the schizophrenia group on the SRLT was poorer than that of controls, but was not related to IGT performance. These data suggest that schizophrenic patients have impaired emotional decision-making but intact cognitive decision-making, suggesting that these two processes of decision-making are different. Furthermore, the impairments in reversal learning did not contribute to poor performance on the IGT in schizophrenia. Therefore, schizophrenic patients have difficulty in making decisions under ambiguous and uncertain situations whereas they make choices easily in clear and unequivocal ones. The emotional decision-making deficits in schizophrenia might be attributable more to another mechanism such as a somatic marker hypothesis than to an impairment in reversal learning.