gambling and cognitive approach

Question 1

expectancy theory (initiation)

Answer 1

• people are likely to participate in a behaviour if they know they will have a positive rewards

Question 2

cost benefit analysis (initiation)

Answer 2

• if a person expects the benefits to outweigh the costs then they are more likely to gamble

Question 3

benefits

Answer 3

• control, enjoyment, financial gain

Question 4

cost

Answer 4

• loss of money, anxiety

Question 5

irrational thoughts (maintenance)

Answer 5

• irrational thoughts about their chances of winning
• addicted gamblers are guided by irrational thoughts about how probability, chance and luck operate

Question 6

illusions of control and exaggeration of ability (maintenance)

Answer 6

• overestimate the skills needed and believe they can influence a gambling outcome
• leads to a gambler’s fallacy

Question 7

cognitive (ability) bias

Answer 7

• errors in thinking that occur in order to argue for your own thoughts
• near miss bias: instead of constantly losing they are constantly nearly winning (griffiths 1994)

Question 8

cognitive bias (recall) (relapse)

Answer 8

• recall bias makes a gambler think about the times they won which makes them want to gamble more

Question 9

overestimation of success (relapse)

Answer 9

• the gambler will believe they have more chance of winning then they actually do
• type of irrational thought

Question 10

griffiths (1994) the role of cognitive bias and skill in fruit machine gambling

Answer 10

• wanted to compare the thought processes of regular and non-regular gamblers
• found that RGs made almost six times as many irrational verbalisations as the NRGs
• cognitive factors may play a significant role in maintaining gambling behaviours

Question 11

study strength

Answer 11

• high level of ecological validity
• wanted to avoid the artificiality of a lab based procedure
• important because the findings from lab studies and real life studies are different

Question 12

study weakness

Answer 12

• participants may have been unusual
• means that griffiths findings may tell us little about the cognitive distortions of the majority of the gambling population

Question 13

eval strength

Answer 13

• effective treatments based on the cognitive approach
• supports the view that cognitive distortions underlie addicted gambling behaviour because tackling them reduces it

Question 14

eval weakness

Answer 14

• reductionist: doesn’t consider other factors such as the influence of role models on gambling