Cognitive biases

Question 1

cognitive explanation of addiction

Answer 1

those that focus on the way an individual thinks about a behaviour. Human error in thinks leads to the initiation and maintenance of addiction

Question 2

DSM-5 symptoms of pathological gambline

Answer 2

loss of control, progressive increase in doing and thinking of gambling, continuing in spite of negative consequences

Question 3

heuristic

Answer 3

a mental shortcut used to solve a problem or make a decision. involves focusing on one thing at the expense of others. based on past experiences.

Question 4

Kahneman and Tiversky

Answer 4

people choose a particular heuristic on the wrong occasion, leading to inappropriate behaviour/responses. e.g. gambling when you’re losing

Question 5

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 5

Gamblers fallacy. Belief that random events have a patter so the more frequently something happens now, the less likely it will happen in the future. e.g. if you’re on a losing streak you’re due a win
in Monte Carlo, black won 26 times, lots bet on red and lost

Question 6

Availability heurisitc

Answer 6

an even is more likely if it is easier to recall. Reports of big wins common, but not of losses, makes winning appear more likely.

Question 7

how do casinos take advantage of the availability heuristic

Answer 7

bright colours, machine close together with loud noises associated with winning.

Question 8

illusion of control

Answer 8

gamblers believe if they can control aspects of the game they better the odds. leads to associations, e.g. playing a certain machine.

Question 9

Hindsight bias

Answer 9

gamblers claims they are not surprised about the outcome. if they were correct it was their skill, it they lost they will win when their skills improve

Question 10

self-serving bias

Answer 10

gamblers attribute wins to internal causes (skill) and loses to external causes (bad luck)
makes them feel not at fault so they can continue

Question 11

evidence of cognitive biases - attentional bias

Answer 11

Weinstein and Cox suggest this plays role in initiation and maintenance.
Attention stroop test - takes longer to identify colour of words associated with addiction than random words. attention taken by word

Question 12

Cause and effect

Answer 12

can’t prove a causal relationships, gambling could cause cognitive biases. it is a descriptive rather than explanatory theory

Question 13

Other explanations?

Answer 13

this one doesn’t explain why some people get addicted and some don’t. non gamblers also have cognitive biases. Genetics?

Question 14

Strough et al

Answer 14

adults are less likely to fall for sunken cost fallacy

Question 15

wenwen shi et al

Answer 15

lack of self control leads to impulsivity. impulses drive people to gamble. positive correlation between cognitive biases and trait impulsivity. combination between personality and cognitive biases

Question 16

issues with research

Answer 16

self reports - gamblers not honest, social desirability,
researcher bias - have to decide what bias is being shown

Question 17

gender differences

Answer 17

ibanez et al - more men than women are exposed to gambling in adolescence. women has later age of first gamble and faster evolution of addiction

Question 18

Choliz et al

Answer 18

evidence for illusion of control, in groups of two in a game of dice, participants betted points against the ‘bank’ and alternated in throwing the dice. bet more points when they had the dice.

Question 19

application - CBT

Answer 19

CBT can be used to help gamblers. cognitive restructuring. taught that thinking is irrational and learnt to change beliefs and biases.

Question 20

Visschers et al

Answer 20

maths and probability difficult to understand so rely on heuristics rather than logic while making decisions