The Frustrating Effects of Just Missing the Jackpot: Slot Machine Near-Misses Trigger Large Skin Conductance Responses, But No Post-reinforcement Pauses

Dixon, Mike J.; MacLaren, Vance V.; Jarick, Michelle; Fugelsang, Jonathan A.; Harrigan, Kevin

doi:10.1007/s10899-012-9333-x

Cited by 90 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In line with this idea, near-misses are often rated as less pleasant than full-misses and elicit larger skin conductance responses (Clark et al, 2009;Dixon et al, 2013;Stange et al, 2015). Accordingly, it is possible that the enhanced striatal response to near-misses seen here reflects enhanced negative arousal and frustration (see eg, Shao et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Amplified Striatal Responses to Near-Miss Outcomes in Pathological Gamblers

Sescousse

Janssen

Hashemi

et al. 2016

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Near-misses in gambling games are losing events that come close to a win. Near-misses were previously shown to recruit reward-related brain regions including the ventral striatum, and to invigorate gambling behavior, supposedly by fostering an illusion of control. Given that pathological gamblers are particularly vulnerable to such cognitive illusions, their persistent gambling behavior might result from an amplified striatal sensitivity to near-misses. In addition, animal studies have shown that behavioral responses to near-miss-like events are sensitive to dopamine, but this dopaminergic influence has not been tested in humans. To investigate these hypotheses, we recruited 22 pathological gamblers and 22 healthy controls who played a slot machine task delivering wins, near-misses and full-misses, inside an fMRI scanner. Each participant played the task twice, once under placebo and once under a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist (sulpiride 400 mg), in a doubleblind, counter-balanced design. Participants were asked about their motivation to continue gambling throughout the task. Across all participants, near-misses elicited higher motivation to continue gambling and increased striatal responses compared with full-misses. Crucially, pathological gamblers showed amplified striatal responses to near-misses compared with controls. These group differences were not observed following win outcomes. In contrast to our hypothesis, sulpiride did not induce any reliable modulation of brain responses to near-misses. Together, our results demonstrate that pathological gamblers have amplified brain responses to near-misses, which likely contribute to their persistent gambling behavior. However, there is no evidence that these responses are influenced by dopamine. These results have implications for treatment and gambling regulation. INTRODUCTIONPathological gambling is a behavioral addiction with dramatic consequences including bankruptcy, unemployment, and relationship problems. The prevalence among college students has risen sharply in the past 10 years (Nowak and Aloe, 2014), while the rate of attempted suicide, approaching 20%, is higher than for any other addictive disorder (Bischof et al, 2015). Central to pathological gambling is the loss of control over gambling behavior and the inability to stop playing. This compulsive behavior is postulated to be fueled by cognitive distortions regarding the game structure. One example is the misappraisal of nearmiss events-losing outcomes that come close to a winwhich invigorate ongoing gambling behavior, conceivably by fostering an illusion of control (Clark, 2010). Although the behavioral vulnerability of pathological gamblers to such cognitive distortions is well established (Michalczuk et al, 2011), the underlying neural and neurochemical mechanisms remain elusive. We aimed to address this question using a combination of fMRI and pharmacological manipulation.Near-miss events are a hallmark of many gambling games and are particularly frequent in slot machines, which are recogniz...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Amplified Striatal Responses to Near-Miss Outcomes in Pathological Gamblers

Sescousse

Janssen

Hashemi

et al. 2016

Neuropsychopharmacol

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“…The literature has examined the role of post reinforcement pauses (PRPs), showing that gamblers take longer to initiate another gamble after a win relative to a loss [17][18][19][20][21]. This is a general associative phenomenon, sensitive to the rate of reinforcement on many different schedules of reinforcement [22], and the magnitude of reinforcement [18], with greater positive reinforcement associated with longer delays. Changes in PRP affect perseverance at gambling when reinforcement is suppressed [1], for instance when gamblers are exposed to an unavoidable string of losses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gambling on Smartphones: A Study of a Potentially Addictive Behaviour in a Naturalistic Setting

2019

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Smartphone users engage extensively with their devices, on an intermittent basis for short periods of time. These patterns of behaviour have the potential to make mobile gambling especially perseverative. This paper reports the first empirical study of mobile gambling in which a simulated gambling app was used to measure gambling behaviour in phases of acquisition and extinction. We found that participants showed considerable perseverance in the face of continued losses that were linearly related to their prior engagement with the app. Latencies between gambles were associated with the magnitude of reinforcement; more positive outcomes were associated with longer breaks between play and a greater propensity to end a gambling session. Greater latencies were associated with measurements of problem gambling, and perseverance with gambling-related cognitions and sensation-seeking behaviour.

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“…Removal of sounds from a slot machine game has been shown to decrease enjoyment, and the excitement of slot machine play (Dixon et al, 2015;Loba, Stewart, Klein, & Blackburn, 2001). While LDWs increase post-reinforcement pauses , near-misses do not (Dixon et al, 2013b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual effects of ‘losses disguised as wins’ and near-misses in a slot machine game

Sharman

Aitken

Clark

2015

International Gambling Studies

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Individually, both near-misses and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) have been seen to exert pro-motivational effects on gambling. However, it is not clear whether both structural characteristics are effective within the same game. Participants (n ¼ 40) played a slot machine simulation. The simulation delivered near-misses, wins and 'fullmisses'. Half the participants also received LDWs that occurred independently of the outcomes on the payline. Valence and motivation ratings were collected after each round. Results showed that the LDW group reported increased valence ratings compared to the no-LDW group. Within the LDW group, trials with LDWs also resulted in increased enjoyment compared to trials without LDWs. We distinguished near-misses falling either side of the payline. Near-misses before the payline (NMB) were rated as more motivational than near-misses after the payline (NMA), whereas NMAs were rated as more aversive than NMBs. These differences between the two near-miss types were exacerbated by LDWs. Results demonstrate LDWs increase the trial-by-trial enjoyment of non-win outcomes. The motivational and hedonic effects of near-misses differed for events either side of the payline, and these differences were exaggerated by the presence of LDWs. Thus, near-misses can retain their effectiveness in complex forms of gambling that also deliver LDWs.

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The Frustrating Effects of Just Missing the Jackpot: Slot Machine Near-Misses Trigger Large Skin Conductance Responses, But No Post-reinforcement Pauses

Cited by 90 publications

References 32 publications

Amplified Striatal Responses to Near-Miss Outcomes in Pathological Gamblers

Amplified Striatal Responses to Near-Miss Outcomes in Pathological Gamblers

Gambling on Smartphones: A Study of a Potentially Addictive Behaviour in a Naturalistic Setting

Dual effects of ‘losses disguised as wins’ and near-misses in a slot machine game

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