what are the explanations for gambling addiction Flashcards
(17 cards)
what is operant conditioning in terms of gambling
the positive reinforcement is any behaviour that produces a reward- griffiths argues gamblers get addicted due to psychological awards, physiological rewards,social rewards and financial rewards
the negative reinforcement is that gambling can be an escape for many. it distracts you from aversive stimuli
what are the 2 times of reinforcement
continuous and partial, skinner found animals with continuous reinforcement quickly stopped the target behaviour as soon as the rewards stopped, however when the reward was unpredictable the animals continued with the target behaviour long after the rewards stopped. the belief you will be rewarded at some point keeps you going. as gamblers win at random intervals it shows why its hard for them to stop
what is variable reinforcement
only a proportion of a players responses are rewarded. gambling machines use variable ratio reinforcement, with wins occuring after an unpredictable number of responses.
e.g. a win will come after 2 responses or 4 or 6 and so on. the average win to loss ratio is 4 but when they occur is unpredictable so that keeps the people going.
this is a highly unpredictable pattern of reinforcement but once its learned its more resistant to extinction
what is the big win hypothesis
many gamblers report having a big win early in their career or an early winning streak and they continue to gamble to repeat this
what is the near miss
near misses that are close to a win creates a brief period of excitement or thrill that encourages gambling
cue reactivity and the gambling enviornment
the gambler encounters secondary reinforcers,stimuli which reminds them of the arousal experienced, an example is the casino which contains many flashing lights,ringing bells, the sound of coins. people are lured into the exciting enviornment. the casino is the CS and the CR is the exhilaration. these stimuli act as a trigger as they have the ability to increase arousal
what is vicarious reinforcement for gambling
individuals observe role models who find gambling enjoying and see the rewards they get from it. as a result of this they believe gambling is a pleasurable experience and they begin gambling. even if they dont win they perservere because the observations lead them to expect future enjoyment.
what is the A03 for the learning theory of gambling
supported by evidence-parke and griffiths describe many ways gambling behaviour is enforced through peer approval, winning money and thrill. they also argue that near misses positively reinforce gambling behaviour as it leads to high expectations for the future
other factors- although its able to explain why some people develop addictions through the near miss, positive reinforcement. one person may get addicted from a big win whilst others wont which leads to their being other factors such as genetics, personality etc.
it doesnt explain why people start gambling, operant conditioning is able to explain why people continue gambling but not why they start in the first place, other explanations such as the SLT may be needed to explain
there are individual differences in gambling behaviour, griffiths argues conditioning processes dont occur in everyone in the same way. cue reactvitiy can differ from one person to another, motivations also differ, some people gamble to relax and others do it to be aroused. these show we need to consider cognitive factors
what does the cognitive approach of gambling suggest
abnormal gambling behaviours result from irrational thinking
cognitive biases
this is a distortion of attention memory and thinking which arrises because of how we process info about the world
gambling addictions develops and is maintained because the addict pays more attention to gambling related info and remember it selectively
expectancy theory
gamblers have expectations about future benefits and costs. if they expect the benefits to outweigh the costs the addiction is more likely.
cognitive myopia
gamblers ofteen place higher priority or present excitement rather than future consequences. the expectation of a positive outcome makes them continue
what are illusions of control
this is overestimating your ability to influence an outcome e.g. being skilled at choosing lottery numbers
what is a gamblers fallacy
this is expecting a imminent win after a series of losses
what is the just world hypothesis
individuals believe they will win and will return to gambling as they believe they deserve to win encouraging a relapse
what is self efficacy
this refers to our expectations that we have the ability to behave in a certain way that achieves a desired outcome. an individual returns to gambling as they believe they cant give it up permanently which sets up a self fulfilling prophecy in which the individual confirms the expectation
what is the A03 for the cognitive approach
supported by evidence- griffiths found that regular fruit machine users were significantly more llikely to use irrational verbalisations than non regular users.
there are methodological issues- research studies into cognitive distortions in gambling access the thinking process of gamblers using self report methods. dickenson and o connor found a problem with this is that what they say doesnt represent what they think.
practical application- CBT can be used to correct cognitive biases which in turn reduces the motivation to gamble. this has shown to have positive outcomes in reducing gambling behaviour. research by echeburua found CBT was effective in preventing relapse in gamblers who played slot machines
correlation vs causation just because irrational thinking and gambling have a correlation it doesnt mean irrational thinking causes gambling, maybe gambling causes irrational thinking
