Explanations for gambling addiction: cognitive theory Flashcards
cognitive bias definition
a distortion of attention, memory and thinking. arises because of how we process information about the world, especially when we do it quickly. for instance, we recall memories that confirm our existing views and ignore others. this can sometimes lead to irrational judgements and poor decision-making
what is central to initiation of gambling
expectations
what are the expectations of people with a gambling addiction
we all have expectations about the future benefits and costs of our behaviour, those who gamble usually expect the benefits will outweigh the costs. some people will overestimate the benefits and underestimate the costs
what are the unrealistic expectations of those with a gambling addiction to do with emotions
-unrealistic expectations on how gambling will help them cope with their emotions
-such as expecting gambling to boost positive moods and reduce negative moods
-those with there distorted expectations are more likely to become addicted
why do gamblers continue to gamble
they have cognitive biases such as mistaken beliefs about luck
what do cognitive biases do
influence how gamblers think about their behaviour, what they do and don’t pay attention to, and what they remember and forget
what is an example of a cognitive bias
gambler who overestimates their chance of winning will ignore the challenges this belief and selectively remember whatever supports it
who categorised cognitive biases into 4 categories
Rickwood et al
what are rickwood et al 4 categories of cognitive biases
-skill and judgement
-personal traits/ ritual behaviours
-selective recall
-faulty perceptions
what is the cognitive bias of skill and judgement
addicted gamblers have an illusion of control which means they overestimate their ability to influence a random event (for example thinking they are skilled at choosing lottery numbers)
what is the cognitive bias of personal traits/ ritual behaviours
addicted gamblers believe they have a greater probability of winning because they are especially lucky or they engaged in a superstitious behaviour (for example touching a certain item of clothing before placing a bet)
what is the cognitive bias of selective recall
gamblers can remember the details of their wins but forget, ignore or minimise their losses, which are often then interpreted as unexplainable mysteries
what is the cognitive bias of faulty perceptions
addicted gamblers have distorted view about the operation of chance, exemplified in the so called gambler’s fallacy, the belief that a losing streak cannot last lat and must always be followed by a win
what is self-efficacy
refers to the expectations we have about our ability to achieve a desired outcome, this is a key element in relapse
why is self-efficacy a cognitive process
based in expectations and perceptions.
why does relapse happen
relapse happen because the person has a biased belief that they are not capable of abstaining permanently . this sets up a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the individual behaves in a way that confirm this expectation, which in turn is reinforced
who did research into cognitive biases
Griffiths 1994
what was Grriffiths procedure for research into cognitive biases
-used the thinking outload method which is a form of introspection to compare the cognitive process of regular slot machine gamblers and people who used the machines occasionally
-they had to verbalise any thoughts that happened when playing
-a content analysis was used to used to classify these utterances into rational and irrational
- a semi-structured interview was used to ask participants about the degree of skill required to win slot machines
-behavioural measures recorded
what were the findings of Grriffiths for research into cognitive biases
-no differences between regular and occasional gamblers in objective behavioural measures (eg the regular gamblers did not win more money)
-regular gamblers made almost 6 times the amount of irrational verbalisations than the occasional (14% compared to 2.5%)
-regular gamblers were particularly prone to an illusion of control
-regular gamblers overestimated the amount of skill required on slot machines and considered themselves to be especially skillful at doing so, compared with the occasional gamblers
strength of cognitive theory as an explanation for gambling addiction - research support
-support for the role of cognitive biases
-Michalczuk et al (2011) studied 30 addicted gamblers attending the national problem gambling clinic in the UK, and compared with 30 control participants. Addicted gamblers show significantly higher levels of gambling related cognitive biases of all types. they were also more impulsive and more likely to prefer to immediate rewards even if these were smaller than what they could gain if the waited. Because addicted gamblers make gambling decisions impulsively, they have a powerful tendency towards biased thinking during play –> findings support the view that there is a string cognitive component to a gambling addiction
Limitation of cognitive theory as an explanation for gambling addiction - counterpoint to research support
-this study measured cognitive biases based on the gambling-related cognitions scale (GRCS). this scores respondents of 5 types of bias, such as illusion of control and gambler’s fallacy. the score could means that a gambler has frequent biased cognitions (as research concluded). Alternatively the score might reflect a gambler’s tendency to use their beliefs to justify their behaviour and therefore their behaviour was not biased at all –> findings of the study may not reflect a gambler’s actual beliefs about gambling
strength of cognitive theory as an explanation for gambling addiction - further research support
-further research supports cognitive biases
-McCusker and Gettings (1997) used a modified stroop task. participants has to identify as quickly as possible the ink colour in which words were printed. to do this, they had to pay attention to one thing (the ink colour) whilst ignoring the other thing (word meanings). the addicted gamblers took longer to perform this task than controls but only when the word meaning was linked to gambling. this is because they could not prevent the word meanings from interfering with the intended task –> suggests gamblers have a cognitive bias to pay attention to gambling-related information that does not exist in non-gamblers
limitation of cognitive theory as an explanation for gambling addiction - methodological problem
-limitation is the use of thinking aloud in research
-this self-report method is used a lot in studies to measure the cognitive biases of addicted gamblers (this includes Griffiths). however, Dickerson and O’connor (2006) suggest what people say in gambling may not represent what people really think. Frivolous or off-the-cuff remarks during a slot machine sesion may not reflect what an addicted gambler’s deeply-held beliefs about chance and skill. Researchers may instead get a misleading impression that gamblers’ thought processes are irrational when they are not –> therefore, genuine findings may not be valid because the gambler’s utterances do not express their genuine beliefs
evaluation of cognitive theory as an explanation for gambling addiction -the true explanation?
-cognitive theory is the true explanation because cognitive biases can explain how gambling behaviour becomes a gambling addiction. there is evidence on this that people addicted to gambling processes information differently from non-gamblers such as in McCusker and Gettings
-however, an alternative view suggests that cognitive biases do not truly explain gambling addiction because they are only proximate causes. we have to go further back in the chain of causation to find the ultimate explanation, which could be biological
