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Updated: May 20, 2026

Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods
Published on: September 19, 2012
The interaction between expected values and risk levels in a modified Iowa gambling task.
Nai-Shing Yen1, I-Chen Chou, Hui-Kuan Chung
1Department of Psychology, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. nsy@nccu.edu.tw
The Iowa Gambling Task-Yen (IGT-Yen) variant helps understand decision-making. Anticipatory skin conductance levels (SCLs) link to both risk and expected value in choices.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) supports the somatic marker hypothesis (SMH), linking decision-making to emotion.
- A confound in the IGT is that disadvantageous decks are also riskier, complicating results.
Purpose of the Study:
- To independently assess the influence of expected value and risk on decision-making.
- To resolve the confounding effect of risk in the original IGT.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the IGT-Yen, a modified version of the IGT, to differentiate risk and expected value.
- Measured participants' anticipatory skin conductance levels (SCLs) during decision-making trials.
Main Results:
- Participants favored high-risk disadvantageous decks and low-risk advantageous decks.
- Anticipatory SCLs correlated with high-risk disadvantageous choices (trials 21-80) and low-risk advantageous choices (trials 81-100).
Conclusions:
- Anticipatory SCLs are associated with both the expected values and risk levels of decision choices.
- The IGT-Yen effectively disentangles the effects of risk and expected value in decision-making research.
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