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.
Modification of slot-machine preferences through the use of a conditional discrimination paradigm.
The present experiment investigated the impact of contextually trained discriminations on gambling behavior. Nine recreational slot-machine players were initially exposed to concurrently available computerized slot machines that were each programmed on random-ratio schedules of reinforcement and differed only in color. All participants distributed responding equally across the two slot machines. A conditional discrimination procedure was then used to teach the contextual cues representing the arbitrary relations of "greater than" and "less than." Following contextual cue training, participants were reexposed to the concurrent slot-machine task. After training of the contextual cues, a higher proportion of responses were made to the slot machine that shared formal properties (i.e., color) with the contextual cue representing "greater than."
Neurorehabilitation: A Disciplined Disciplining Discipline
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