NEW! Learn how to administer the IGT2 remotely in our new white paper. Click the Resources tab above or here.
The IGT2 is a computerized assessment that assists in the evaluation of decision making. This revision reflects a downward age extension to age 8 years, allowing for use throughout the life span.
The software tracks the examinee’s selection of advantageous and disadvantageous cards from four decks and is ideal for assessing patients who exhibit poor decision-making skills in the presence of otherwise normal or unaffected intelligence because of head injury or insult or any other condition thought to affect the function of the prefrontal cortex.
It features a real-time gambling task that resembles real-world situations. The task factors reward and punishment—the winning and losing of money—in such a way that it creates a conflict between immediate reward and delayed punishment, engaging the participant in a quest to make advantageous choices. As in real life, the task offers choices that may be risky, but there is no obvious indication of how, when, or what to choose. The only way an individual can do well on this task is to follow his or her intuition.
The original IGT has been used in studies examining decision-making capacity in a variety of populations, including individuals with focal brain lesions, substance addiction, chronic pain, aggression disorders, and Huntington’s disease.
A comprehensive list of research articles related to the IGT and IGT2 is available via Mendeley, a free reference management tool. After accessing the link, you will be prompted to create an account. A white paper describing how to use this research repository can be found here. Use of this resource is encouraged to facilitate research using the IGT2. Both the list and the white paper are available in the Resources tab above.