Griffiths Flashcards
Hypotheses
There will be no difference between regular and non-regular gamblers in skill
Regular gamblers will produce more irrational verbalisations than non-regular gamblers
Regular gamblers will be more skill-orientated on self-report measures
Method
Field experiment
Design
Independent measures
Location
In an arcade, Exeter, Uk
Independent variables
Regular or non-regular gambler
Thinking aloud group or not
Dependent variables
Total plays during one session Total plays per minute Total wins during one session Number of plays between each win Number of minutes between each win Total time played for one session Total winnings at the end
How many were assigned to the thinking aloud group
Half
How were verbalisations measured?
They had a microphone and an observer watched them
What does previous research into the thinking aloud method show?
That it had no impact on behaviour or cognition but slows participants down
What specific instructions were given?
To verbalise every thought that passes through the mind
Don’t censor things that you think are irrelevant
Keep talking even if thoughts are not structured or in full sentences
Don’t justify thoughts
Results
Only 2/7 of the DVs showed significant differences
Regular gamblers played 8 per minute as opposed to 6
Regular gamblers who thought aloud had significantly less gambles between each win than others
RG stayed on for as long as NRG in terms of gambles
No significant difference in the total winnings of those who thought aloud and didn’t
How many categories were there for verbalisations
Content analysis produced 30 categories of utterance plus one assorted category
Verbalisations results
RG made more categories in personifying the machine, predicted events after they happened, made flexible attributions, had ironwood responses
NRG made more utterances in categories of confusion and non-understanding
RG produced more irrational verbalisation
Interview data
RG said they were above average skill or totally skilled
NRG said they were below average skill or totally unskilled
Option to carry on
10/14 RG continued until they lost everything
2/10 NRG who broke even continued
Conclusions
RG thought they were more skilful than NRG
There was no real difference in wins, only time on machine - RG took slightly longer to lose the same amount
RG had favourite machines
RG tended to ‘go blank’ more often, going onto auto pilot
These result could be used in cognitive behaviour modification to rehabilitate addicted gamblers
Advantages of method
High ecological validity - local amusement arcade, typical fruit machine
Enriched data gathering and triangulation- observation of behaviours & recording of verbalisations and semi-structured interview
Disadvantages of method
Validity of the thinking aloud technique is low as most are descriptive and do not show explanations for behaviour
Low inter-rater reliability- the descriptions of categories offered by Griffiths were only understood by him due to his experience and knowledge of gambling language
Ethics issues
Girffiths was standing close to the fruit machine player, which may have encouraged longer period of gambling
Sample disadvantages
Only represented students in a local university or college, not a full selection of society= not representative or generalisable
Regular gamblers had a severe gender imbalance of 29males to 1 female
Advantages of sample
Gender imbalance represents the nature of fruit machine gambling which is mostly young males
Quantitative data
Behavioural data
Categorisation of verbalisations
Qualitative data
Analysis of verbalisations
Transcripts of the thinking aloud process
Usefulness
Raises the profile of a forgotten addiction among teenagers which could lead to further addictions
Problem could be tested by allowing them to listen to the recordings. Could be used as part of a cognitive behaviour-modification programme
Aim
To see if skill involved in fruit machine gambling is ‘actual’ or ‘perceived’
To examine the cognitive activities of regular and non-regular fruit machine gamblers using the thinking aloud method and interviews
