Gambling behaviour is likely to be strongly influenced by operant learning principles. Most forms of gambling, and most notably slot machine play, follow a random ratio (RR) schedule of reinforcement that should lead to rapid and extinction-resistant behaviour. In this paper we highlight the caveats that need to be applied when generalising animal models of learning to human behaviour. Studies need to be cognisant of the role of verbal rules and cognitive appraisals of contingency; the ability for participants to self-modify important elements of reward schedules; potential differences between concurrent and longitudinal schedule preferences; and, the role of important human motivations in financial decision-making. In particular, we believe that operant approaches to gambling may need to incorporate a greater focus on FOMO (or the fear of missing out) as a motivational construct that may explain some of the observed patterns of behaviour, including riskier behaviours, on slot games. The implications of these observations for future research and harm minimisation are discussed.
Section snippetsOverviewIn this paper, it will be argued that an understanding of basic operant learning principles is essential for understanding gambling behaviour. Basic schedules of reinforcement have long been recognised as factors that are likely to maintain gambling behaviour. However, as we will show in this paper, it will be important for gambling research to be cognisant of the complexities of human schedule responding and how this may deviate from traditional animal models. This is because humans apply
Operant explanations for gamblingAlthough gambling behaviour is understood to be influenced by a variety of psychological and social factors (Griffiths and Delfabbro, 2001, Petry, 2005, Porter and Ghezzi, 2006, Walker, 1992a), it is very likely that behavioural principles play a significant role in the maintenance of many forms of gambling behaviour (Mazur, 2016). As Skinner (1953) pointed out, most forms of gambling (and particularly slot games) offer a schedule of reinforcement that is able to maintain high rates of
Verbal rules and cognitive influencesIt is generally recognised that it is often difficult to replicate the patterns of behaviour observed in animal studies (Bradshaw and Reed, 2012, Bradshaw et al., 2015). A principal reason given for this is that humans apply verbal rules and cognitive processes to the understanding of the schedule. Thus, whereas animal behaviour is thought to be principally contingency-shaped or induced, people will make assumptions about the ways in which their behaviour is related to the rewards. When humans
Modern computational and modelling approachesIn addition to the work above which has attempted to adapt the more traditional Skinnerian models of behaviour to encompass a wider range of behavioural phenomena, there are also modern computational and modelling approaches that study the behavioural manifestation of different neurological systems devoted to decision-making as opposed to more stimulus-driven habitual behaviour (Smith et al., 2021, Wyckmans et al., 2019). The first or goal-oriented system focuses principally upon the selection
Modifiable schedules and structural characteristicsAnother very important difference between gambling and conventional laboratory schedules is that people are able to select their own schedules. Slot machine gambling is perhaps the best example. In these games, people place bets on whether certain combinations of symbols appear on certain pay-lines. Players can choose how many lines they play as well as how much they bet per line to achieve a total bet per spin amount. Many slot game choices are usually available (e.g., among some online
The role of motivation in operant schedulesTraditional operant conditioning approaches (Skinnerian work) do not usually consider the role of motivation in people’s behaviour. It is generally assumed that the principal purpose of behaviour is to generate rewards and that conditioning is maintained through the performance of behaviour that continues to generate reward. However, it would appear clear from behavioural evidence from the study of activities such as gambling on slot games that people’s behaviour is goal-oriented. In other
SummaryThe principles of operant conditioning and schedules of reinforcement are undoubtedly important ways of understanding the highly persistent behaviour on many forms of gambling activity, but most notably: slot games. However, we believe that new frameworks may need to be developed that capture the additional features of human schedule-based behaviour which is not included in animal models (Fig. 2). These include: (a) the roles of verbal rules, cognitive biases and perceptions of contingency that
Author credit statementPD produced the 1st draft of the paper. DK and JP provided critical feedback on the first draft and contributed content to the paper.
Author statementAll authors agree to being named on this paper and contributed to the paper.
Declaration of Competing InterestThe authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: PD and JP have received national and International industry and government funding to conduct studies into product risk assessment and harm minimization. DK has received funding from the State and Commonwealth government in Australia as well as the WHO.
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