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Somatic markers, working memory, and decision making.

John M Hinson¹, Tina L Jameson, Paul Whitney

¹Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-4820, USA. hinson@mail.wsu.edu

Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience

|March 19, 2003

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Cognitive load from working memory (WM) impairs decision-making by disrupting the development of somatic markers, which are affective signals that guide choices. This impacts performance on tasks like the gambling task.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Decision Science

Background:

The somatic marker hypothesis posits that emotions guide decision-making.
The gambling task assesses decision-making deficits, initially in neurological populations.
This hypothesis and task have broader applications to suboptimal decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between working memory (WM) load, decision-making in a gambling task, and somatic markers.
To determine if increased cognitive load affects the development or utilization of somatic markers.

Main Methods:

A modified gambling task was employed.
Secondary tasks were introduced to manipulate working memory (WM) load.
Gambling performance and the presence of affective reactions were monitored.

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Main Results:

Elevated working memory (WM) load led to significantly poorer performance on the gambling task.
Reduced gambling performance correlated with a lack of anticipatory affective reactions.
Evidence suggests working memory processes are crucial for somatic marker development.

Conclusions:

Working memory (WM) load interferes with the formation of somatic markers.
Impaired somatic marker development due to high cognitive load can lead to decision-making deficits.
These findings highlight the interplay between cognitive load and emotional guidance in decision-making.