cognitive explanations of gambling addiction

Question 1

expectancy theory

Answer 1

gamblers have expectations about future benefits and costs of their behaviour

if they expect the benefits of gambling to outweigh the costs, then addiction becomes more likely

sounds like a conscious process that the gambler goes through to rational decision about whether or not to gamble but it is not

memory and retention processes don’t operate in a rational and logical manner

Question 2

cognitive theory

Answer 2

based on assumption that irrational beliefs and distorted thinking patterns contribute to development and maintenance of problem gambling

referred to as cognitive biases

Question 3

cognitive biases

Answer 3

irrational beliefs that are unhelpful, unrealistic and inconsistent with the social reality

could lead to a person behaving in inappropriate ways (excessive gambling)

contribute to gambling addiction as addicts have irrational beliefs about their ability to influence outcome of random gambling events

gamblers fallacy, illusions of control, near miss bias, recall bias, ritual bias

Question 4

gamblers fallacy

Answer 4

gamblers have the faulty belief that random events must even themselves out over time

therefore a run of losses must be followed by a win e.g. i havent won for 3 weeks, so it should be my turn soon

Question 5

illusions of control

Answer 5

pathological gamblers may also show an exaggerated self-confidence in their ability / skill to beat the system and influence chance

e..g i can bluff this machine and win £100

Question 6

near miss bias

Answer 6

near misses occur when an unsuccessful outcome is close to a win

because of these, gamblers may feel that they are ‘not constantly losing but nearly winning’ (Griffiths 1991)

Question 7

recall bias

Answer 7

pathological gamblers have a tendency to remember and overestimate wins whilst forgetting about and underestimating losses (Blanco et al 2000)

consequently, strings of losses doesn’t act as a disincentive for future gambling

Question 8

ritual bias

Answer 8

gamblers believe they are especially lucky or engage in superstitious behaviours, such as blowing on a dice

Question 9

self-efficacy

Answer 9

relapse is believed to occur due to lack of self-efficacy (belief we have in our own ability to achieve a desired outcome)

individual resumes gambling as they don’t believe they are capable of giving up, the relapse then reinforces their lack of self-efficacy

e.g. i told you i couldn’t give up