Examining Slot Machine Play with Varying Percentages of Losses Disguised as Wins
When playing on multiline slot machine games, small " wins " often amount to less than the original spin wager, which results in a financial loss to the gambler. However, the gambler may feel as if he is winning because these " wins " are paired with audiovisual feedback. The influence of losses disguised as wins was examined to determine if this had an influence on latency, trial ratings, and the number of trials played. Thirty-one participants played a minimum of 50 trials on a simulated multi-line slot machine. The participants were divided into three groups with 16%, 30%, and 46% of trials being losses disguised as wins. Results showed that trial type had a significant impact on latency and rating, as losses disguised as wins fell between wins and losses in terms of latencies and ratings. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.
Near-Miss Effects on Response Latencies and Win Estimations of Slot Machine Players
The present study examined the degree to which slot machine near-miss trials, or trials that displayed 2 of 3 winning symbols on the payoff line, affected response times and win estimations of 12 recreational slot machine players. Participants played a commercial slot machine in a casino-like laboratory for course extra-credit points. Videotaped sessions were later coded to assess trial types and participant response latencies and win estimations for each participant. Results show that all 12 participants emitted verbalizations suggesting near-miss trials were of a higher approximation to a win than non-near-miss losing trials. Of the 12 participants 8 also demonstrated higher response latencies following losing trials than following winning trials. Variations across participants’ response latencies were attributed to the presence of and response to near miss trials. The implications of the near-miss on game preference, resistance to extinction, and the development of a behavioral treatment for pathological gamblers are discussed.
Finite Difference Modeling on the Temperature Field of Substrate in Friction Surfacing
Friction surfacing is an advanced process of great potential, especially in the field of repair and reclamation of worn and damaged components. As a kind of thermal processing technology, the temperature profile and changes of the substrate in friction surfacing are important factors to get coatings of high quality. In this paper, the temperature field of the substrate during the process is simulated by finite difference method. The results are consistent with experiments, reappearing the temperature change of the substrate during friction surfacing, allowing further study on figuration and quality of coatings.