Working Memory in the Processing of the Iowa Gambling Task: An Individual Differences Approach

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a sequential learning task in which participants develop a tendency towards advantageous options arising from the outcomes associated with their previous decisions. The role of working memory in this complex task has been largely debated in the literature. On one hand, low working memory resources lead to a decrease in the number of advantageous decisions and make a significant part of participants unable to report explicitly which options are the most profitable. On the other hand, several studies have shown no contribution of working memory to the IGT decision patterns. In order to investigate this apparent incompatibility of results, we used an individual differences approach, which has proven an effective method to investigate the role of working memory in cognition. We compared the IGT decision patterns of participants as a function of their working memory capacity (WMC). As expected, contrary to low WMC participants, high WMC participants developed a tendency towards advantageous decisions. These findings lead us to discuss the role of WMC in decision making tasks.