Measures risk-taking tendencies
Gambling Task (GT)
When and how do people take risks to get rewards?
Gambling tasks measure people's willingness to gamble when faced with different scenarios of risk and reward. Risk-taking behavior is related to the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine declines with age and has been linked to many physical and mental states, such as anxiety. In fact, people with an anxiety disorder have been found to take fewer risks to get rewards. Past research has also shown that adolescents take more risks, but only in situations where there's a lot to gain.
Resources:- Charpentier, C. J., Aylward, J., Roiser, J. P., & Robinson, O. J. (2017). Enhanced risk aversion, but not loss aversion, in unmedicated pathological anxiety. Biological Psychiatry, 81(12), 1014-1022.
- Baraniuk, C. (2016). Why gamblers get high even when they lose. BBC.
- Collins, T. (2019). Risk-taking may be caused by random changes in the brain which change every minute depending on dopamine levels. Daily Mail.
Parameters
The following features can be tweaked (default values in parentheses):- Task instructions
- Number of trials (60)
- Number of points participants start the task with (500)
- Whether trials should be randomized (yes)
- Which question is asked between trials and how often
- Which question is asked before and after the task
- Language (English, Spanish, Chinese)
What data is collected? How is it scored?
The task records the following variables:
- gamble_percentage_gain
Percentage of trials in which participants chose to gamble in the gain condition. Participants can gamble to win a large number of points (e.g., 51) or nothing (i.e., 0), OR gain a fewer amount of points (e.g., 30)
- gamble_percentage_mixed
Percentage of trials in which participants chose to gamble in the mixed condition. Participants can gamble to win (e.g., 40) or lose points (e.g., -26), OR not win points (i.e., 0)
- gamble_percentage_lose
Percentage of trials in which participants chose to gamble in the lose condition. Participants can gamble on losing nothing (i.e., 0) or lose lots of points (e.g., -53), OR lose fewer points (e.g., -26) - last_score
The number of points the participant has at the end of the last trial.
- withinTask_ratings
A chronological list of the rating (slider) that were given by the participant throughout the task.
Percentage of trials in which participants chose to gamble in the gain condition. Participants can gamble to win a large number of points (e.g., 51) or nothing (i.e., 0), OR gain a fewer amount of points (e.g., 30)
Percentage of trials in which participants chose to gamble in the mixed condition. Participants can gamble to win (e.g., 40) or lose points (e.g., -26), OR not win points (i.e., 0)
Percentage of trials in which participants chose to gamble in the lose condition. Participants can gamble on losing nothing (i.e., 0) or lose lots of points (e.g., -53), OR lose fewer points (e.g., -26)
The number of points the participant has at the end of the last trial.
A chronological list of the rating (slider) that were given by the participant throughout the task.
Parameters
The following features of this task can be tweaked:
* Default values are shown (can clone task and modify these)
randomize
yes
question
How happy are you right now?
min_rating_label
Very unhappy
max_rating_label
Very happy
welcome_text
See how good you are at making decisions by winning as many points as you can. At the same time, help scientists study happiness by reporting how you feel during the game.
starting_points
500
instructions_question
Help us study happiness. When asked how you feel, move the slider to the right when you feel happy and to the left when you feel unhappy. Mark exactly how you feel at that moment.
whenShowQuestion
5
numberOfTrials
20
language
english
What participants see before taking the task
In this gambling task, you can win or lose points by spinning the wheel of fortune or playing it safe.
What participants see after taking the task
Using this type of gambling task, researchers have shown that people take fewer risks to try to get rewards as they get older. This version of the task also tests if getting rewards makes you happy and if your level of anxiety affects if and when you take risks.
Aggregate Variables
These data are automatically written to a csv file upon completion of the task
more info
- GT_gamble_percentage_gain
- GT_gamble_percentage_mixed
- GT_gamble_percentage_lose
- GT_last_score
- GT_withinTask_ratings
Duration
7 mins
Resources
- Charpentier, C. J., Aylward, J., Roiser, J. P., & Robinson, O. J. (2017). Enhanced risk aversion, but not loss aversion, in unmedicated pathological anxiety. Biological Psychiatry, 81(12), 1014-1022.
- Baraniuk, C. (2016). Why gamblers get high even when they lose. BBC.
- Collins, T. (2019). Risk-taking may be caused by random changes in the brain which change every minute depending on dopamine levels. Daily Mail.