The Iowa Gambling Task218 is a game wherein subjects may sequentially choose from any of four decks of cards. Each card is associated with a gain or a loss in points/money. Commonly, two decks yield larger rewards but are also subject to a high rate of large penalties, while the other two yield small rewards but fewer penalties. The payout schedules are arranged such that across the testing session, it is ultimately disadvantageous to select the high reward/penalty decks. The common dependent variable is the difference between the numbers of advantageous versus disadvantageous choices. Generally, control (unaffected) persons start out by selecting the disadvantageous deck but update their behavior appropriately as the task progresses and their experience with the outcomes accumulates.
