Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T02:02:16.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hoarding all of the chips: Slot machine gambling and the foraging for coins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2019

Mike James Ferrar Robinson Open the ORCID record for Mike James Ferrar Robinson [Opens in a new window]
Mike James Ferrar Robinson*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department and Neuroscience & Behavior Program, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459. [email protected]://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/mjrobinson/profile.html
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Predictions made by the “incentive hope” hypothesis account for overconsumption in unpredictable food environments. However, when applied to uncertain gambling situations, there are several areas where this theory falls short. Most notably, it has trouble explaining why, in slot machine gambling, players are motivated by extended play to spend time trying to resolve uncertainty, rather than hoarding monetary gains.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e50
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anselme, P., Robinson, M. J. F. & Berridge, K. C. (2013) Reward uncertainty enhances incentive salience attribution as sign-tracking. Behavioural Brain Research 238:53–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.10.006.Google Scholar
Dixon, M. J., Graydon, C., Harrigan, K. A., Wojtowicz, L., Siu, V. & Fugelsang, J. A. (2014) The allure of multi-line games in modern slot machines. Addiction 109(11):1920–28. http://doi.org/10.1111/add.12675.Google Scholar
Dixon, M. J., Harrigan, K. A., Sandhu, R., Collins, K. & Fugelsang, J. A. (2010) Losses disguised as wins in modern multi-line video slot machines. Addiction 105(10):1819–24. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03050.x.Google Scholar
Schüll, Dow, N. (2012) Addiction by design: Machine gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
McDevitt, M. A., Dunn, R. M., Spetch, M. L. & Ludvig, E. A. (2016) When good news leads to bad choices. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 105(1):23–40. http://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.192.Google Scholar
Stagner, J. P. & Zentall, T. R. (2010) Suboptimal choice behavior by pigeons. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 17:412–16.Google Scholar