Kevin Harrigan

The personality of pathological gamblers: A meta-analysis

This review summarizes studies of pathological gambling and personality. Meta-analyses were conducted on 44 studies that reported personality traits of pathological gamblers (N = 2134) and nonpathological gambling control groups (N = 5321). Effect size estimates were calculated for 128 comparisons and organized according to the factors associated with two integrative accounts of personality. Four of the meta-analyses examined traits that have previously been found to load on the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, and Sensation Seeking aspects of impulsivity (Whiteside & Lynam 2001). Substantial effects were found for traits associated with Negative Urgency (Cohens d =.99) and Low Premeditation (d =.84), but not for Low Perseverance or Sensation Seeking. A second set of meta-analyses examined broad domains of personality that have previously been found to load on Negative Affect, Positive Affect, Disagreeable Disinhibition, and Unconscientious Disinhibition (Markon, Krueger, & Watson, 2005). Substantial effects were found for Unconscientious Disinhibition (d =.79), Negative Affect (d =.50), and Disagreeable Disinhibition (d =.50), but not Positive Affect. It was concluded that these individual personality characteristics may be important in the etiology of pathological gambling. The personality profile implicated in the etiology of pathological gambling is similar to that found in a recent meta-analysis of substance use disorders (Kotov, Gamez, Schmidt, & Watson, 2010). These results suggest that pathological gambling may be part of a broad cluster of externalizing psychopathology, and also call into question the current classification of pathological gambling as an Impulse Control Disorder in the DSM-IV.

Slot Machine Structural Characteristics: Creating Near Misses Using High Award Symbol Ratios

A near miss is a failure that was close to a win. In this paper we analyze the primary documents associated with a case that was brought before the Nevada Gaming Commission in 1988. This case resulted in the 1989 ruling that the proprietary computer algorithms used by one slot machine manufacturer to create a high number of near misses on the payline are “unacceptable,” whereas the use of virtual reel mapping to create near misses above and below the payline is acceptable. We show how, before and after 1989, slot machine manufacturers use virtual reels and a technique called “award symbol ratio” to create a high number of near misses above and below the payline and how this acceptable practice has the unintended effect of also creating near misses on the payline which can be explained by a software concept called feature interaction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of near misses for problem gambling.

The Impact of Sound in Modern Multiline Video Slot Machine Play

Slot machine wins and losses have distinctive, measurable, physiological effects on players. The contributing factors to these effects remain under-explored. We believe that sound is one of these key contributing factors. Sound plays an important role in reinforcement, and thus on arousal level and stress response of players. It is the use of sound for positive reinforcement in particular that we believe influences the player. In the current study, we investigate the role that sound plays in psychophysical responses to slot machine play. A total of 96 gamblers played a slot machine simulator with and without sound being paired with reinforcement. Skin conductance responses and heart rate, as well as subjective judgments about the gambling experience were examined. The results showed that the sound influenced the arousal of participants both psychophysically and psychologically. The sound also influenced players’ preferences, with the majority of players preferring to play slot machines that were accompanied by winning sounds. The sounds also caused players to significantly overestimate the number of times they won while playing the slot machine.

Misinterpreting ‘winning’ in multiline slot machine games

On multiline slot machines, ‘wins’ often amount to less than the spin wager, resulting in a monetary loss to the gambler. Nevertheless, these losses disguised as wins (LDWs) are accompanied by potentially reinforcing audiovisual feedback. A concern for gambling behaviour is whether or not players categorize LDWs as wins or losses, as miscategorization could effectively increase the reinforcement rate of these games. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether novice gamblers psychologically miscategorize LDWs. Forty-seven novices (undergraduate students) played 200 spins on an actual slot machine with credits, then estimated how often they won. It was found that the more LDWs players were exposed to, the higher their win estimates. In a subsequent ‘think out loud’ playing session, the majority of novices also verbally miscategorized LDWs as wins. We conclude that LDWs could increase the reinforcement rate of these games, despite not increasing the payout to the gambler.

Using sound to unmask losses disguised as wins in multiline slot machines.

Losses disguised as wins (LDWs) are slot machine outcomes where participants bet on multiple lines and win back less than their wager. Despite losing money, the machine celebrates these outcomes with reinforcing sights and sounds. Here, we sought to show that psychophysically and psychologically, participants treat LDWs as wins, but that we could expose LDWs as losses by using negative sounds as feedback. 157 participants were allocated into one of three conditions: a standard sound condition where LDWs, despite being losses, are paired with winning sights and sounds; a silent condition, where LDWs are paired with silence; and a negative sound condition where LDWs and regular losses are both followed by a negative sound. After viewing a paytable, participants conducted 300 spins on a slot machine simulator while heart rate deceleration (HRD) and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were monitored. Participants were then shown 20 different spin outcomes including LDWs and asked whether they had won or lost on that outcome. Participants then estimated on how many spins (out of 300) they won more than they wagered. SCRs were similar for losses and LDWs (both smaller than actual wins). HRD, however, was steeper for both wins and LDWs, compared to losses. In the standard condition, a majority of participants (mis)categorized LDWs as wins, and significantly overestimated the number of times they actually won. In the negative sound condition, this pattern was reversed; most participants correctly categorized LDWs as losses, and they gave high-fidelity win estimates. We conclude that participants both think and physiologically react to LDWs as though they are wins, a miscategorization that misleads them to think that they are winning more often than they actually are. Sound can be used to effectively prevent this misconception and unmask the disguise of LDWs.

Government Sanctioned “Tight” and “Loose” Slot Machines: How Having Multiple Versions of the Same Slot Machine Game May Impact Problem Gambling

In Ontario, Canada, the regulator approves identical looking slot machine games with different payback percentages. We gained access to the design documents (called PAR Sheets) used to program these different versions of the same slots game and ran Gambler’s Ruin simulations of 2,000 first-time players who each arrived with a

Slot Machines: Pursuing Responsible Gaming Practices for Virtual Reels and Near Misses

100 bankroll and played either the 85 or 98% version of the same game until broke. Simulations revealed that the typical (median) player’s experience did not differ significantly between versions. However the payback percentage affected the experience of players in the upper tails of the distributions with those in the 98% version having dramatically more total spins, winning spins, entries into the “bonus mode”, and “hand pays” (a win of

The SPECIAL System: Self-Paced Education with Compressed Interactive Audio Learning

125 or more on a given spin). Most importantly, the number of simulated players who had a maximum peak balance in excess of

Learning Design Repositories: Adapting Learning Design Specifications for Shared Instructional Knowledge.

1,000 rose tenfold—from 5 in the 85% version to 54 in the 98% version. The results are discussed in terms of the Pathways Model of Problem and Pathological Gambling especially in terms of behavioural conditioning, cognitive beliefs, and early big wins. It may well be that those machines that are on the surface the “fairest” to the gambler, actually pose the most risk for ensuing gambling problems.

Games of chance or masters of illusion: multiline slots design may promote cognitive distortions

Since 1983, slot machines in North America have used a computer and virtual reels to determine the odds. Since at least 1988, a technique called clustering has been used to create a high number of near misses, failures that are close to wins. The result is that what the player sees does not represent the underlying probabilities and randomness, and this misrepresented outcome will have some effect on the player’s perceptions of the game, which may lead directly to classical and operant conditioning, the frustration effect, the perception of early wins, illusion of control, biased evaluation of outcomes, entrapment, and irrational thinking. We use transcripts of Nevada hearings to show that the initial proponents understood that virtual reels and near misses may have a detrimental psychological effect on the player. We conclude by suggesting that jurisdictions should consider the historical facts and research presented in this paper when pursuing responsible gaming practices for slot machines.