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theses

Emotions have been theorized to be a source of information when making decisions. The Behavior Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavior Approach System (BAS) are body signals that are activated when gains or losses occur and are hypothesized to be a source of information for decision making. It is hypothesized that people sensitive to BIS or BAS would have these systems activate at a lower threshold of losses or gains than people who are insensitive. The IGT simulated decision making in real life with a gambling task which required the participants to make card selections from four decks, and either gain or lose points depending on the card turned. The goal was to determine which two decks had an overall gain in points for the participants. This study sought to examine how the information gained from BIS/BAS might impact decision making when there is little information using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). An Alternate Iowa Gambling Task (AIGT) was also designed which limited the impact of the overall gains and losses that the participants might experience during the task. The study had mixed results, but it found that participants sensitive to BIS would avoid decks with more frequent losses than participants insensitive to BIS on the IGT. After 30 trials, most participants regardless of sensitivity, would move to a strategy in which decks with frequent losses were avoided. The AIGT did not see the same switch occur though, despite the similar set up.

ETD_9172

doi:10.7282/T3SJ1Q6H

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Kevin G. Byrnes

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.