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The Bangor Gambling Task: Characterising the Performance of Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2017

Anna-Lynne Ruth Adlam ,
Malcolm Adams ,
Oliver Turnbull ,
Giles Yeates  and
Fergus Gracey
Anna-Lynne Ruth Adlam*
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology, School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
Malcolm Adams
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
Oliver Turnbull
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
Giles Yeates
Affiliation:
Oliver Zangwill Centre, The Princess of Wales Hospital, Ely, UK Community Head Injury Service, Aylesbury, UK
Fergus Gracey
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK Oliver Zangwill Centre, The Princess of Wales Hospital, Ely, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Anna Adlam, Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology Group, School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK. E-mail: a.r.adlam@exeter.ac.uk
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Abstract

The Bangor Gambling Task (BGT, Bowman & Turnbull, 2004) is a simple test of emotion-based decision making, with contingencies varying across five blocks of 20 trials. This is the first study to characterise BGT performance in survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) relative to healthy controls. The study also aimed to explore sub-groups (cluster analysis), and identify predictors of task performance (multiple regression). Thirty survivors of TBI and thirty-nine controls completed the BGT and measures of processing speed, pre-morbid IQ, working memory, and executive function. Results showed that survivors of TBI made more gamble choices than controls (total BGT score), although the groups did not significantly differ when using a cut-off score for ‘impaired’ performance. Unexpectedly, the groups did not significantly differ in their performance across the blocks; however, the cluster analysis revealed three subgroups (with survivors of TBI and controls represented in each cluster). Findings also indicated that only age and group were significant predictors of overall BGT performance. In conclusion, the study findings are consistent with an individual difference account of emotion-based decision making, and a number of issues need to be addressed prior to recommending the clinical use of the BGT.

Keywords

Executivesocial cognitionemotion processingmeasurementpsychometrictraumatic brain injury
Type
Articles
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 18 , Special Issue 1: Disorders of Social Cognition; Advances in Theory, Assessment and Treatment , March 2017 , pp. 62 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 2017 

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Footnotes

† Author deceased

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