When you gamble you are positively
rewarded by gaining money and having a
dopamine rush - positively reinforced -
unconsciously encouraged to repeat the
behaviour
Custar (1982): people who win big
when they first start gambling are
more likely to become compulsive
gamblers
Gambling is an example of random ratio
schedule - body does not habituate
- maximising the biological reward - stay motivated
without rewards
Social Learning Theory
Watch a role model gamble and
see them win money and thier
popularity increase - you undergo
vicarious reinforcement - imitate
their behaviour to gain the
rewards
Gupta (1998): 86% of children who
gambled did so with family
Maintenance
Classical Conditioning
Over time an unconscious
association formed between
what is around you when you
gamble and the rewards of
gambling - acts as a trigger
Eg. when you gamble at a slot
machine there are lots of
bright lights - if you see bright
lights there is an
overwhelming impulse to
gamble - lights act as a trigger
Relapse
Raylu
PA: more control over films
Nurture
COGNITIVE
Initiation
Self Medication
Model
Use gambling to treat psychological
problems - percieved as dealing with the
problem - distractor from unhappiness or
boredom
Becona (1996): depression is evident in the majority of PG
Theory of Reasoned
Action
Both attitudes are norms and
combined to create the
behaviour intention which
determines the actual behaviour
- attitude: I'm feeling lucky,
norms: sociable - do it
Maintenance
Self Medication
Model
Irrational beliefs - gambler's fallacy -
belief that random events can be
affected by recent events - their luck
will change - superstitious
behaviours will effect eg. lucky die
Griffiths (1994): regular
gamblers were more likely to
believe there were skilled and
to make irrational
verbalisations during play -
expressed loses are near wins
Relapse
Raylu
BIOLOGICAL
Initiation
Born with A1 allele of the DRD2 gene
- suffer a deficit of dopamine -
constantly under rewarded - need to
stimulate the mesolimbic system -
gambling provides disproportionate
reward
Comings (1998): 50% of PGs have the
A1 allele of DRD2 compared to only
25% of the general public
Bergh: lower levels of dopamine in PG
Maintenance
Random ratio schedule of
reinforcement - brain does not
habituate - reward level does
not drop
Relapse
If you have the A1 allele of
DRD2 you are more likely to
relapse - without gambling
mesolimbic system is not
stimulated - gamble again
No gambling = no reward -
lower than normal
dopamine levels - physical
dependance on gamlbing -
gamble again to raise
dopamine levels
Raylu
Deterministic - stereotypeing? not motivation to
improve?