THE EFFECT OF NEAR-MISSES ON GAMBLING BEHAVIOUR DURING A SIMULATED VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINAL (VLT) TASK

Transcription

1 THE EFFECT OF NEAR-MISSES ON GAMBLING BEHAVIOUR DURING A SIMULATED VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINAL (VLT) TASK Julianna Hurley Michael Ellery Randall Jamieson University of Manitoba

2 NEAR MISSES DEFINED a special kind of failure that comes close to being successful useful in a skill game provides feedback on performance not useful in a game of chance provides no information on future outcomes (Reid, 1986, p. 32)

3 NEAR MISSES AFFECT PHYSIOLOGY near misses increase physiological arousal e.g., heart rate (Griffiths, 1991) near misses activate brain areas that are also activated during monetary wins (Clark et al., 2008)

4 NEAR MISSES AFFECT PHYSIOLOGY near misses activate related brain areas more in certain gamblers those with more cognitive distortions, and those who report wanting to continue to play in response to near misses (Clark et al., 2008)

5 NEAR MISSES AFFECT BEHAVIOUR near misses prolong machine gambling (Côté et al., 2003)

6 MACHINE GAMBLING & PROBLEMS people develop gambling problems with machines more quickly than with other forms of gambling (Breen & Zimmerman, 2002) although not the most popular gambling activity, more than 25% of VLT players have gambling problems or are at-risk (Marshall & Wynne, 2003)

7 MACHINE GAMBLING & PROBLEMS more than half of self-reported gambling problems in NS attributed to VLTs twice as many as any other form of gambling (Focal Research, 2004) VLTs are the main form of gambling for which gamblers seek treatment (Morgan, Kofoed, Buchkoski, & Carr, 1996; Wiebe & Cox, 2001)

8 MACHINE GAMBLING & PROBLEMS still some debate whether machine gambling is especially harmful some associate VLT play with more gambling problems (e.g., Holtgraves, 2009) but not all scientific evidence supports this view (see Dowling et al., 2005 for review)

9 MACHINE GAMBLING & PROBLEMS near misses may help explain relationship between machine gambling and gambling harms

10 NEAR MISSES MAKE NEWS in 1989, Nevada Gaming Commission deemed high proportions of near misses unacceptable (Harrigan et al., 2008) in 2007, CBC investigated Konami machines games flashed jackpot symbols for 200 msec before each gaming event Konami stated it was a software glitch

11 NEAR MISSES MAKE NEWS in 2007, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation pulled the 87 Konami machines /25/video-lottery.html however, flashing jackpot symbols for 200 msec is not exactly a near miss more like a cognitive prime

12 COGNITIVE PRIME some evidence that some cognitive primes can affect behaviour e.g., participants primed with stereotypes of the elderly walked slower (Bargh et al., 1996)

13 RESEARCH QUESTION can a near miss cognitive prime affect the behaviour of machine gamblers?

14 HYPOTHESES Control Condition number of gaming events total number of credits wagered average bet size rate of gambling proportion of max bets Near Miss Condition number of gaming events total number of credits wagered average bet size rate of gambling proportion of max bets

15 PARTICIPANTS n = 28 undergraduates 50% male (n = 14), 43% female (n = 12), 7% undisclosed (n = 2) mean age = years (SD = 1.55) mean years of education = years (SD = 0.52) i.e., roughly first year university 78.6% (n = 22) had no prior VLT experience

16 MATERIALS Demographic questionnaire gender, age, education Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI; Ferris & Wynne, 2001) South Oaks Gambling Screening (SOGS; Lesieur & Blume, 1987)

17 MATERIALS Mock VLT computer program created by Dr. Jamieson using a programming language called Delphi Program run on standard desktop computers using the Windows operating system

18 MATERIALS Control Condition = Functions similar to standard video slot machine Near Miss Condition = Winning symbols appear on payline for 200 msec at the beginning of each gaming event or trial Each machine was programmed to produce the same sequence of outcomes that had been randomly predetermined

19 PROCEDURE Informed consent obtained Participants completed questionnaire package Participants randomly assigned to near miss or control condition Program preloaded with $10 worth of credits Participants could gamble for up to one hour Upon termination, participants were paid out any remaining credits and debriefed

20 CONDITIONS Control n = 13 Near Miss n = 15 PGSI Score 1.67 (2.32) 2.92 (4.07) SOGS Score 1.60 (3.33) 2.69 (2.36) balanced in terms of PGSI and SOGS scores balanced in terms of demographics balanced in terms previous experience with VLTs

21 RESULTS Examined effect of condition on: number of trials completed total number of credits wagered average bet size rate of gambling (number of trials/time) proportion of max bets (number of max bets/ number of trials completed)

22

23 DISCUSSION 200 msec near miss prime increased use of max bet button among undergraduate gamblers perhaps wise to remove VLTs that flashed near miss prime?

24 LIMITATIONS sample characteristics small sample size undergraduates with limited VLT experience few gambling problems money did not belong to participants no manipulation check not a real VLT

25 LIMITATIONS not clear how more max bets fails to result in higher average bet size or more money spent over time if harms are related to time and money spent (e.g., Blaszczynski et al., 2001), does more max betting lead to more harms?

26 LIMITATIONS did not directly examine whether effect due to cognitive priming perhaps effects due to early wins (Cummins et al., 2009)

27 FUTURE DIRECTIONS replicate findings using real VLTs study community-recruited samples certain groups more susceptible? e.g., problem players? examine whether behavioural effects due to cognitive priming