[A] Biological approach to gambling

Question 1

[INITIATION] What makes people more likely to try out addictive behaviours and get more quickly hooked once they do so?

Answer 1

Biological vulnerability.

Question 2

[INITIATION] What kind of differences are there between those who are predisposed to gambling and those who aren’t?

Answer 2

Genetic differences.

Question 3

[INITIATION] Describe Black et al’s (2006) study.

Answer 3

They found that first degree relatives of pathological gamblers were more likely to be problem gamblers than more distant relatives.

Question 4

[INITIATION] What else could influence the results of Black et al’s (2006) study?

Answer 4

Environmental influences, such as learning behaviour and shared environments when growing up.

Question 5

[INITIATION] What did Blum et al (1996) find?

Answer 5

They found that gamblers are more likely to have lower levels of dopamine receptors in the reward pathway of the brain due to the A1 variant of the DRD₂ gene.

Question 6

[INITIATION] The A1 gene variant is also linked to other addictions, such as smoking, what does this suggest?

Answer 6

It suggests the variant creates a general vulnerability to addiction, rather than a specific predisposition to gamble.

Question 7

[INITIATION] Describe Comings et al’s (1996) study.

Answer 7

They found that 50.9% of pathological amblers had the A1 variant of the DRD₂ gene, compared to 25.9% of the controls in their study.

Question 8

[INITIATION] What has been found with regards to dopamine that supports the biological model of gambling?

Answer 8

There is a difference in dopamine functioning in the brains of problem gamblers.

Question 9

[MAINTENANCE] Changes in what are responsible for maintenance of a gambling habit?

Answer 9

Changes in levels of dopamine in the brain’s reward pathway.

Question 10

[MAINTENANCE] Initially, the dopamine produced following a win is what?

Answer 10

Reinforcing and it strengthens motivation to gamble.

Question 11

[MAINTENANCE] Over time, when is dopamine produced?

Answer 11

In anticipation of gambling, manifesting itself in feelings of cravings or compulsion to gamble.

Question 12

[MAINTENANCE] What did Shinohara et al (1995) find?

Answer 12

In social gamblers, raised dopamine levels only occur following a win, whereas in pathological gamblers dopamine increases in anticipation of gambling such as when seeing gambling-related paraphernalia.

Question 13

[MAINTENANCE] What did Reuter et al (2005) find?

Answer 13

Gambling addicts show less activation in the medial forebrain during winning than casual gamblers.

Question 14

[MAINTENANCE] What does continued overproduction of dopamine lead to?

Answer 14

Desensitisation in receptors.

Question 15

[MAINTENANCE] Which events cause a dopamine response higher than usual?

Answer 15

Near misses and unexpected rewards.

Question 16

[MAINTENANCE] What did Griffiths (2005) find?

Answer 16

Gamblers are more likely to see a near miss as a near win, and regular gamblers have more cognitive distortions.

Question 17

[MAINTENANCE] What did Shead (2010) find?

Answer 17

Poor family cohesion, depression, anxiety, low academic achievement and exposure to gambling are involved in maintaining gambling addiction.

Question 18

[MAINTENANCE] How is the near miss rate programmed?

Answer 18

It teases players with a near miss 30% of the time, which is an optimum setting for gambling to become the most compulsive.

Question 19

[RELAPSE] What makes addicts highly sensitive to reminders of past highs?

Answer 19

The reward pathway is linked to memory areas in the brain, which makes past highs seem more exciting and makes addicts vulnerable to relapse when stressed and unable to control their urge to repeat the addictive behaviour.

Question 20

[RELAPSE] What are the brains of pathological gamblers less sensitive to?

Answer 20

‘Normal’ pleasures due to alterations to the reward pathway.

Question 21

[RELAPSE] What did Dickerson (1981) find?

Answer 21

Abstinent gamblers reported psychological withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, boredom, anxiety and irritability.

Question 22

[RELAPSE] What did Rosenthal and Lesieur (1992) find?

Answer 22

65% of abstinent gamblers reported physical withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, loss of appetite and headaches.

Question 23

[RELAPSE] What did Kim and Grant (2001) find?

Answer 23

Naltrexone helps to reduce gambling urges which then reduces the chance of relapse.

Question 24

[RELAPSE] What does the successful use of drugs such as naltrexone suggest?

Answer 24

It suggests that biology is the key to addiction.