Explanation for gambling addiction- Cognitive Theory

Question 1

What are the 3 main factors in the cognitive explanation for gambling addiction?

Answer 1

• Expectations
• Cognitive biases
• Self-efficacy

Question 2

What are expectations?

Answer 2

• Many gamblers expect benefits outweigh costs
• Unrealistic expectations about how gambling helps them cope with their emotions (e.g: boosts positive mood)

Question 3

What are cognitive biases?

Answer 3

• Distortion of memory, thinking, attention
• Influence how gamblers think about their behaviour, what they do/do not pay attention to, and what they remember/forget

Question 4

What is an example of cognitive biases in gambling addiction?

Answer 4

• E.g: gambler overestimates chances of winning and ignores info that challenges the belief (i.e. low odds) and selectively remembers what supports it (i.e. wins)

Question 5

What are the 4 categories of cognitive biases?

Answer 5

Rickwood et al:
1) Skill and judgement
2) Personal traits/ritual behaviours
3) Selective recall
4) Faulty perceptions

Question 6

What is skill and judgement?

Answer 6

• Illusion of control
• Overestimate the ability to influence a random event

Question 7

What are personal judgement/ritual behaviours?

Answer 7

• Belief they have a greater probability of winning as they are lucky or engaged in superstitious behaviour

Question 8

What is selective recall?

Answer 8

• Remember details of wins but forget/ignore/minimise losses, which they interpret as unexplainable mysteries

Question 9

What are faulty perceptions?

Answer 9

• Distorted views about the operation of chance
• Exemplified in the gambler’s fallacy- belief that losing streaks are always followed by a win

Question 10

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 10

• Expectations about our ability to have a desired outcome
• Relapse= the addict has a biased belief that they are incapable of permenant abstinence, so they expect to gamble again
• Creates a self-fulfilling prophecy- behaviour confirms expectation, which is reinforced

Question 11

What was Griffiths’ procedure?

Answer 11

• Used ‘thinking aloud’ method to compare cognitive processes of regular to occassional slot machine gamblers
• Participants to verbalise any thoughts as they played
• Content analysis classified uterances into rational and irrational
• Semi-structured interview asked participants about degree of skill required to win

Question 12

What were Griffiths; findings?

Answer 12

• No difference in objective behavioural measures
• Regular gamblers made almost 6X as many irrational verbalisations (14% vs 2.5%)- prone to illusion of control
• Regular gamblers overestimated amount of skill need to win, and consider themseleves very skillful

Question 13

Strength-
I- Research support

Answer 13

D- Michalczuk et al studied 30 gambling addicts attending National Problem Gambling Clinic UK vs 30 non-addicted gamblers. Addicts showed higher levels of gambling-related cognitive biases, were more impulsive and more likely to prefer immediate rewards
E- Shows biased thinking during play, meaning there is a strong positive cognitive component to gambling addiction

Question 14

Limitation-
I- Flawed research support

Answer 14

D- Michalczuk’s study used gambling-related cognitions scale (GRCS), which scores respondents on 5 types of bias, including illusion of control and gambler’s fallacy. Score may means gambler has frequent biased cognitions or may reflect their tendency to use beliefs to justify behaviour
E- Findings may not reflect actual beliefs about gambling, so tell us little

Question 15

Strength-
I- Further research support

Answer 15

D- McCusker and Gettings used modified stroop task. Participants to identify which colour words were printed in. Addicts took longer to perform tasks than control when words related to gambling, as they were unable to prevent word meanings from interfering with task
E- Suggests gamblers have cognitive biases to pay attention to gambling-related information

Question 16

Limitation-
I- Methodological issues

(Criticism of Griffiths’ study)

Answer 16

D- Dickerson and O’Connor argue what people say in gambling situations does not always represent what they think. Frivolous/ off-the-cuff remarks may not reflect deeply held beliefs about skill/chance
E- Invalid findings, providing misleading impression of gambler’s thought process. Presumptions about cognitive biases may not reflect those of addicts

Question 17

Evaluation extra-
I- The true explanation?

Answer 17

Limitation-
D- Cognitive biases do not truly explain addiction, as they are proximate. Descrie addict’s mistaken beliefs about chance/luck but do not explain causes of beliefs

Strength-
D- True explanation- there is evidence that addicts process information differently. Addicts had cognitive biase to pay attention to gambling related information, unlike non-addicts
E- Cognitive differences explain why some become addicted and others don’t but do not explain causes of addiction