PSYC 335 FINAL
Pathway 1...
"A subset of gamblers who are characterized by an absence of any specific premorbid feature of psychopathology" "this subgroup may exhibit high levels of depression and anxiety in response to the financial burden ... these symptoms are the consequence not the cause" less severe, want to get treatment; group therapy benefit this group.
Added Utility of Gambling
"Excitement is the gamblers' drug" (Boyd 1986) Physiological arousal during gambling play The excitement is a commodity that the gambler is prepared to pay for Gambling (regardless of winning money) may also serve to relief stress / boredom negative reinforcement
Pathway 3
"Gamblers with a background history of impulsivity (+antisocial + executive dysfunction) engage in a wider array of behavioural problems independent of their gambling - substance abuse, suicidality, criminal acts•" Gambling commences at an early age, rapidly escalates in intensity, may occur in binge episodes..." some support for the notion that impulsivity traits (+ ADHD features) are present at childhood and predate onset of problem gambling" dont turn up in treatment therapy every week. Intensive intervention needed. Perhaps put them in residential program, one to one treatment
Tobacco Rankings for Risk of Dependence:
#1: Heroin #2: Cocaine #3: Tobacco
Two possible explanations of gambling
1. the utility of gambling is not purely economic... The excitement ... compensates for the expected economic loss" 2. The utility (value) of gambling is misperceived many people have a subjective expectation of gain.
Online gambling: the concerns
24/7 round the clock accessibility Geographical distance (brings the casino to your living room). Mobileaccess (on the bus...) Playing on credit card ('the plastic trap') Cannot control alcohol / drug use (playing while intoxicated) Social isolation / reduced stigma
Dixon et al (2014) The Allure of Multi-Line Machines
98 participants (mostly older adults) recruited at casino Play 225 trials on a simulated slot machine TWICE Multi-line setting (20 line): 45 Wins, 75 LDWs-Single-line setting: 45 Wins, 0 LDWs 22 Ps were high-risk of PG; 46 were 'at risk' Measures: Game preference; Game Experience Questionnaire; Post-reinforcement pauses during play •94% preferred the multi-line over a visually identical single-line game
Dice -throwing behaviour Henslin (1967)
A qualitative study of St Louis taxi drivers who played craps in their breaks between shifts "It is believed ... that a hard throw produces a large number, and a soft or easy throw a low number... Other techniques involve evidencing concentration and effort" Henslin Effect
Williams et al (2012) Prevention of Problem Gambling, OPGRC report: What are the Preventative Strategies? a)Restrictions on who can gamble b) Restrictions on gambling availability c) Awareness campaigns about harms d) Game Features
A. 1) Age 2) Non-residents e.g. South Korea 3) Restrictions on alcohol use in venues B. 1) Only gambling in gambling venues 2) Opening hours C. 1) Advertising 2) 'Responsible Gambling' info centres in venues 3) School education D. 1) Pop-up messages 2) Pre-commitment strategies 3) Maximum Spend Limits (Norway)
Ayton & Fischer (2004) summary: Thats so random
After a run of one colour, subjects are less likely to predict that colour (= gambler's fallacy) After a streak of wins, subjects are more confident in their next colour prediction (= hot hand effect) After a streak of losses, subjects are less confidence in their next colour prediction (= 'cold hand' effect) people show more than 1 sequence bias, even within the same task
The Emergence of Online Gambling
BC was first Canadian province to introduce online gambling PlayNow.com is the only legal, regulated site for BC residents (Europe, Australia: hundreds of gambling websites)
Is Online Gambling more addictive? - Studies
Basic study: find a group of people who gamble online and a group who gamble 'offline' (i.e. casinos). Measure PGSIs. Online group tend to score higher (Griffiths et al 2011, Kairouz et al 2012, BC Prev Survey 2014)• The problem: the online group tend to engage in more forms of gambling, incl. offline games. In studies that control for # gambling forms, online engagement is not reliably predictive (Laplante et al 2014, Philander & Mackay 2014)
Psychodynamic Theory
Bergler (1957) Problem gambling as masochism - the unconscious desire to lose• Driven by denial / rebellion against parental authority Did foresee notion that PG is not about winning money
Upper the Ante: the multi-line game
By betting on multiple lines simultaneously, the player can 'win' on one line, but this does not cover the full bet. The machine responds as if a jackpot has been won. The 'loss disguised as a win' (LDW)
Increased IoCin Gambling Disorder?
Contingency Judgment Task (the medicine task: "does the medicine, Batatrim, effectively treat Lindsay Syndrome"
2. Instrumental Action ('Involvement')
Craps: players place higher bets and bet more riskily (on single numbers) on their own throw (Davis et al 2000) Roulette: Higher bets when player versus croupier throws ball (Ladouceur & Mayrand 1987)
Dopamine and Pavlovian Conditioning
Dopamine neurons signal unexpected rewards With learning, dopamine neurons also signal conditioned stimuli (CSs) that predict reward With uncertain rewards, there is additional anticipatory activity (a 'double hit')
"Lost in the Game"
During play, many slot machine gamblers enter a 'trance-like' state (immersion, dark flow, dissociation) This state may provide a means of escape from stress, low mood, boredom Modern slot machine design may have facilitated immersion by "smoothing the play experience" (LDWs, sensory feedback)
How might Pavlovian cues also play an important role in problem gamblers?
Elicit cravings Recruit the insula Modulated by dopamine
Forms of Illusory Control
Examples: interpreting wins as skill, using lucky charms or superstitious rituals, interpreting losses as indicating a win... Primary (Active) vs Secondary (Passive) Illusory Control (Rothbaumet al 1982): Primary: beliefs that direct intervention by the individual can modify the environment (skills, lucky charms, rituals) Secondary: belief that they can predict or sense the outcome, but without direct intervention (see 'Predictive Control' and 'Interpretive Bias' on the GRCS, L20)
How does uncertainty effect the electrophysiology data?
Fiorillo et al (2003)Dopamine cell activity during appetitive Pavlovian conditioning with 5 stimuli indicating different probabilities of reward At peak uncertainty (0.5), there is a cue (CS) response PLUS anticipatory activity(cf. hyperlearning)
The Potential: "Player Tracking"
Gambler behaviour is collected automatically and linked to one user - can we use data science principles to identify and intervene in at-risk players? The bwin studies (Shaffer et al, ~20 papers): European data from 2005-2007, mostly sports betting-Derive daily aggregate measures, e.g. total bets, average bet, net loss, days active LaPlante et al 2008: followed 46,339 sports bettors: typical usage: short term increase w later adaptation -Escalating behaviour only in top 1-5% (LaBrie et al 2007)
The 'Think Aloud' technique
Gambler plays in natural environment for 5 minutes, and vocalizes all thoughts 70-90% of gamblers' thoughts are erroneous Erroneous thoughts primarily tied to actual play (Dickerson 1991) and preferred game Erroneous thoughts elevated in problem gamblers (Joukhador et al 2003) Erroneous thoughts correlated with heart rate (arousal) increases (Coulombe et al 1992)
Behavioural Theory of Gambling
Gambling (a response) predicts occasional wins (reward, feels good) positive reinforcement Skinners' 'Schedules of reinforcement'Fixed Interval: e.g. 10s delay before next reward availableVariable Interval: unpredictable delayFixed Ratio: 1 prize every 10 pressesVariable Ratio: unpredictable number of presses gambling!! Gambling as instrumental conditioning with reinforcement (money) delivered on a Variable Ratio schedule Ratio schedules yield higher rates of responding than interval schedules VR schedules are highly resistant to extinction VR can also be difficult to establish: many problem gamblers report 'big win' early in their gambling careers
Gambling Cues and Craving in the Brain: Limbrick-Oldfield et al (2017) 19 patients with Gambling Disorder vs 19 healthy controls
Gambling cues were tailored to the preferred games of each participant We used highly appetizing food images to test whether other reward processing altered We took cravings rating after each block of images ("I crave gambling right now", rating 1-9) We analysed brain connectivity changes (with striatal) as well as brain activity
The Norway Experiment: What happened next POSITIVELY?
Gambling helpline calls fell, esp. EGMs, by 62% Gambling treatment referrals fell by 57% Gambling revenue fell by ~31% (across all games) "No indication of the development of an illegal EGM market, or of substitution of EGMs with other types of gambling"
Losses Disguised as Wins
Generate physiological arousal similar to wins (Dixon et al 2010) Distort players' memory for the number of 'true wins' in the session (Jensen et al 2013) Dramatically reduce the length of 'losing streaks' without winning feedback Create a post-reinforcement pause comparable to a true win (Dixon et al 2014, Fig 2)
That's sooooo random
Generationof a random sequence: HHTTHTHTTHHHTTTHTHHTP (Alternation) = 0.58 too switchy switchyAttributionof mechanism: @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ # @ # # # # # # # # # @ p(alt)=0.2 @ # # # @ @ # @ # @ @ # @ # @ # @ # @ # @P(alt) = 0.8
The Hot Hand Fallacy
Gilovich et al (1985): In basketball, if a player scores 3 consecutive shots, are they more likely to score with their next shot? Players, fans & coaches all say YES! NBA shooting records as well as field study of Cornell BB players indicate NO "The outcomes of previous shots influenced predictions but not performance"
Loss-Chasing and Reference Points
Imas (2016): with 'paper losses' (e.g. a tally or balance), participants increase risk-taking after a loss.With 'realized losses' (i.e. actual exchange of money), this loss-chasing disappears - the transfer of money 're-references' the person (wipes the slate clean)
The Norway Experiment: What happened before? What action did the government take? Rossow & Hansen 2015
In 1997, Norway had the 3rdhighest density of EGMs (per capita) in the world. EGMs had no age restrictions and were available in supermarkets and gas stations By 2005, gambling accounted for 5% of disposable household income, and EGMs held 66% of the gambling market. Decisive action, in 2006: Machines turned off at night (12am - 6am) Ban on banknote acceptors In 2007, all EGMs removed for 1.5 yr period In 2009, new EGMs required personal ID card and imposed upper limits on daily & monthly losses
Evidence for the addictiveness of EGMs
In treatment services, high % of problem gamblers have EGMs as their preferred form E.g. Griffiths et al 1999: 45% of calls to a problem gambling helpline concerned slot machine play in Vancouver, 25 of 51 problem gamblers recruited prefer slot machines Rapid progression from initial use to problematic gambling (Breen & Zimmerman 2002): For EGM gamblers: 1.1 yr EGMs For non-EGM gamblers: 3.6 yrs
The Illusion of Control
Langer (1975) definition: "an expectancy of a personal success probability inappropriately higherthan the objective probability" 'Skill vs Chance confusion' - "In a situation of chance / unpredictability, people behave as they would in a situation requiring skill" (Ladouceur & Walker 1996) Hypothesis: features of "skill situations (competition, choice, familiarity, involvement) introduced into chance situations cause individuals to feel inappropriately confident" (Langer 1975)
3. Familiarity / Practice
Langer (1975, expt 3): lottery tickets displaying familiar letters vs unfamiliar ('esoteric') symbols Ladouceur & Mayrand (1987): roulette bets and confidence increase across 3 consecutive sessions of play
1. (Irrelevant) Choice
Like choosing your lucky number in lotteries. Lottery based on football cards. Langer (1975)Lottery based on football cards (cost: $1).Either the P chose their card from a box, or P was given a card(yoked to the previous P)"How much would you sell your ticket for?"Choosers: $8.67Non-choosers: $1.96, p<.005 Fast et al (2009)Predict the outcome of a dice roll, to win $5 bonusWho throws? Participant or Experimenter?29 / 38 (76%) chose themselves to throw
Lotteries: weekly vs instant
Lottery is most popular form of gambling in Canada Most problem gamblers endorse playing the lottery Lottery outlets sell instant and weekly lottery tickets Short et al (2015): freq of scratchcardplay predicted PG symptoms, but freq of weekly lotteryplay did not
Hodgins et al
Lucky Charms Illusion of control Fundamental Attribution Error (Gambler's Fallacy, chasing, Anthropomorphism, hindsight bias) Beliefs in luck Superstitious conditioning Selective Memory
Nutt - Relative Harms of Drugs Three categories of drug harms
Physical harms to the user (e.g. overdose risk)-Propensity to induce dependence ('addictiveness')-Effects on others (e.g. violence, car accidents)
The Counter-Arguments for the addictiveness of EGMs
Problem gamblers often engage in multiple forms of gambling (Shaffer, LaPlante) (see Online Gambling L26 Gamblers developing a problem may gravitate towards EGMs because they offer the potential to recoup losses quickly (high stakes, fast play) 3rdvariable problems: other factors e.g. drug use, gender may be associated with PG risk (or treatment seeking)and also with bias towards EGMs (Dowling et al 2005)
Window shopping experiment: Are they merely "post-hoc rationalizations"?
Ps evaluate 4 items of clothing e.g. nightgowns (n=378) and choose their favourite: item on far right preferred 4x more"Why did you choose that item?" Participants give detailed, elaborate & fictitious justifications; no-one mentions item position.
Superstitions
Regular slot machine gamblers tested twice- Once with ritual / superstition permitted- Once with ritual / superstition forbidden When superstition permitted = played longer and spent more $$$ See also Damisch et al (2010): students performed better at Memory (Pelmanism, Fish) in presence vs absence of their own lucky charm
'Think aloud' critique
Requirement to verbalize is unnatural - does this change the nature of the cognitions ('Schrodinger's cat' argument) There are relatively few ways to express rational thoughts about the game ("It's just chance... it's just chance") Healthy non-PGs express so many irrational beliefs,it was hard to show an increase in PGs. "lack of empirical evidence establishing causal significance" (Blaszczynski & Nower 2002) Post-hoc rationalizations
The Norway Experiment: What happened next NEGATIVELY?
Revenue decrease: "in the early 2000s the Norwegian Red Cross received approximately half of all their income from EGM gambling." "restrictions on EGM gambling were expected to impact severely upon many humanitarian and health organizations."
The vicious cycle: how do we know which gamblers have problems?
Self-exclusion from the website Gray et al 2012: 2,066 cases who triggered RG interventions (vs 2,066 who did not)-Multi-variate model correctly classified 78%-Best predictors were intensity on live-action sports Frequent deposits / withdrawals / changing account limits Host clinical questionnaire (PGSI) on website Email correspondence with website operator
Bells & Whistles: the Role of Sound
Skin conductance significantly larger for outcomes in the SOUND-ON condition than the SOUND-OFF condition. •Tendency to overestimate wins is exacerbated when sounds accompany the LDWs
Increasing the numbers of near-misses
Slot machine reels must spin freely But, 'Virtual Reel Mapping' enables the reel to stop adjacent to a winning symbol, on more trials than the player expects This ratio (of near-misses to wins) averages 9:1 (Harrigan 2007)
Pathway 2
The 3 pathways should not be viewed as parallel. Pathway 2 and 3 also involve conditioning and irrational beliefs Pathway 2 posits an emotional disturbance that predisposes gambling engagement and persistence "utilize gambling to relieve aversive affective states by providing escape or arousal" May be especially important in slot machine gambling - "the machine zone" Depression predates the gambling, you have to treat the depression; more resistant to change; or you have to tackle both problem Pathway 2 and 3 may require medications to balance their neurochemistry.
The 'Early Big Win' hypothesis
Vast majority of problem gamblers report early 'big wins' (Custer 1982)•Turner (2006) retrospective data: Powerful (one-trial) conditioning event•Skews expected value calculations
"Gamification"
Video games often have multiple, overlapping schedules of reward-Completing level-Advancing your avatar -Finding rare items... This ensures some form of regular reinforcement Modern research: Shen & Hsee (2017 Psych Science) show that an accelerating points score (i.e. increasingly bigger jumps) increase motivation across a variety oftasks incl. gym exercise
Pareto Rule
the 20% highest consumers account for 80% of revenue Most forms of online gambling (not lottery) adhere to Pareto. Does this imply some revenue coming from people with gambling problems? (yes - Tom & Shaffer 2014)
