Addictive behaviours - Individual Differences Explanation: Cognitive Biases Flashcards
The cognitive biases explanation suggests that addictive behaviours a result of…
- Faulty or irrational thinking.
- Griffiths’ study in which his participants verbalised their thoughts whilst gambling, found that regular fruit machine gamblers had more irrational thoughts and that these thoughts displayed cognitive biases often as a result of inaccurately applied heuristics.
- Heuristics are mental short cuts or ‘rules of thumb’ that help us to make quick decisions without weighing up all
the information, they are useful to reduce cognitive load, but when they are applied incorrectly, or the wrong
ones are applied in the wrong circumstances then they can lead to cognitive biases or errors which deviate from
logical thinking.
What are the 3 examples of heuristics
- Availability Heuristic: mental shortcut where we make decisions based on examples that we can
quickly bring to mind. - Representative Heuristic: people compare information based on their schemas to make decisions
- Base Rate Heuristic: Make decisions based on probability (less frequently used as it requires more thinking)
—> only availability and representative heuristics link to addiction
How does representative heuristic link to addictive behaviours
- Gamblers often assume patterns in betting events due to the representativeness heuristic, believing they can predict outcomes.
- However, this leads to the Gambler’s Fallacy, where individuals falsely believe that if an outcome occurs repeatedly, the opposite outcome is “due,” despite each event remaining independent with the same odds.
- Keren and Lewis (1994) identify two types of this fallacy:
1) Type One Fallacy: Belief that outcomes need to balance out (e.g., after losing, a win is “due”).
2) Type Two Fallacy: Belief that a random system is biased. For instance, a gambler might assume that if a roulette number appears frequently, it is more likely to show up again, though the system is unbiased and such patterns occur randomly.
How does availability heuristics link to addictive behaviour
- Availability heuristics significantly contribute to gambling addiction by skewing a gambler’s perception of winning and losing. - Gamblers tend to easily recall their winning experiences, while the memory of losses fades, leading them to overestimate their chances of winning.
- Gambling companies exploit this cognitive bias by designing machines that create a celebratory atmosphere during wins, complete with loud noises and flashing lights, while remaining silent during losses. This disparity enhances the availability of winning memories, reinforcing the illusion that winning is more common than it actually is. Additionally, the strategic placement of machines in casinos ensures that wins are witnessed by others, further embedding these moments in memory.
- Consequently, the prevalence of accessible winning experiences fosters continued gambling behavior, as gamblers rely on these distorted memories rather than objective probabilities, which could provide a more accurate assessment of their chances.
What are some other cognitive biases/errors that can be applied to addictive behaviour (other than heuristics)
- Sink-cost fallacy
- Joukhador et al using their ‘Gamblers Belief Questionnaire’, found cognitive biases such as illusion of control, hindsight bias and self-serving bias present in gamblers
How do cognitive errors such as ‘The Sunk-Cost Fallacy’ link to addiction
- The sunk-cost fallacy is a cognitive error that significantly influences gambling behavior, often leading to addiction.
- This decision-making bias compels individuals to continue investing time and money into a situation where they have already made substantial prior investments, despite the logical option being to “cut their losses.”
- For gamblers, this means that after losing a significant amount—such as £20 on a fruit machine—they may feel an irrational compulsion to keep playing in hopes of recouping their losses.
- This inclination stems from a belief that walking away would mean losing the invested money forever.
- Consequently, rather than recognizing that further investment may only lead to greater losses, they justify their continued play to validate their earlier expenditures.
- This mindset can be exacerbated by the representative bias, where the gambler convinces themselves that, given their numerous losses, they are “due” for a win soon.
- Together, these cognitive errors create a cycle that not only prolongs gambling behavior but also deepens the grip of addiction, as individuals chase after losses rather than making rational decisions based on their actual chances of winning.
How does Joukhador et al’s cognitive biases link to addiction
- Cognitive biases have been found to be higher in gamblers than non-gamblers by Joukhador et al using their ‘Gamblers Belief Questionnaire’, such as illusion of control, hindsight bias and self-serving bias.
-For example, with an illusion of control the gambler feels that they have control over random chance events, so they will be more likely to continue gambling as they believe their special skill will lead to a higher chance of winning than is logically the case. - Cognitive biases can also be applied to substance addictions, for example attentional bias can explain why smokers often relapse because they are more likely to pay attention to ques and features in the environment that are associated with smoking, such as ashtrays and the smell of smoke, and this can trigger relapse.
When evaluating this explanations what do you talk about
- useful application
- reductionist
- low reliability
- no C+E relationship
Evaluate the cognitive biases explanation for having useful application
P: A strength to this theory is that it lends itself to practical application through treatments developed using the explanation, such as cognitive restructuring
E: This is when clients are taught to see the thoughts they have when gambling are irrational. Griffins (1994) suggests that verbalisations he asked gamblers to make while gambling, could be played back to them and might help highlight their irrational behaviour. He found this to be successful on a small scale and gamblers reported finding it useful in overcoming their addiction
T: Therefore, by having practical applications that work efficiently it increases the likelihood that the explanation is valid and reliable, as well as increasing the credibility
C: However, while cognitive restructuring may show short-term success in addressing irrational thoughts, it may not fully address the underlying emotional or psychological factors contributing to addiction. Therefore leading to ineffective long-term treatment
Evaluate the cognitive biases for being reductionist
P: it may be too reductionist, overlooking important social and environmental factors that contribute to these biases. Cognitive biases, such as the illusion of control or the availability heuristic, can be influenced by a person’s social context, including peer pressure, cultural norms, and socioeconomic status.
E: research by Wiers et al. (2013) indicates that individuals in high-stress environments, such as those with low socioeconomic status, may be more prone to developing maladaptive thought patterns that perpetuate addiction. This suggests that by focusing primarily on cognitive processes, the theory risks ignoring how social influences and life experiences shape an individual’s cognition and decision-making.
T: Therefore this reductionism limits the theory’s applicability, as it does not account for the broader context in which addiction develops, potentially undermining the effectiveness of interventions aimed solely at addressing cognitive biases.
C: However, by concentrating on cognitive biases, the theory enables practitioners to identify and modify specific thought patterns that contribute to addiction, providing a clear and manageable framework for treatment. As seen in treatments developed such as CBT
Evaluate the cognitive biases explanation for having low reliability in methodology
P: One weakness is that in order to find out about an individual’s condition, we need to use questionnaires which can be reliable.
E: This is especially relevant in research by Griffiths et al (1994) and Joukhador et al (2003). This makes research very susceptible to issues such as Social desirability bias, ecological validity and demand characteristics, especially when concerning socially sensitive issues such as addiction. Especially when creating qualitative data that is subjective and prone to researcher bias.
T: Therefore this means that we cannot be sure that the conclusions made from these researchers are completely reliable and consistent.
C: However, there’s no other way to gather such data with the same level of depth and insight without crossing over any ethical boundaries.
Evaluate the cognitive biases explanation for having no cause and effect relationship
P: One weakness is that explanation doesn’t provide a concrete falsifiable explanation of the choices addicts will make as a result of their cognitive biases
E: Griffiths (2013) used the National lottery as an example of this issue. When there was a triple roll over in the national Lottery for the first time the media reported that the number 13 had come up fewer times than any over number. The issue is that representative bias would lead to people being more likely to choose number 13, whereas availability bias would lead to people not picking the number 13.
T: Therefore it doesn’t allow us to predict data as there’s no pattern for which Heuristic or which bias people use. Therefore this is a problem as we can’t develop treatments.
C: However, there are treatments that have shown to be effective (such as CBT).
