20/8/12
Gambling study may have important real world implications
A new study on gambling may provide some insight into why some of the recent bank investments gone wrong have happened on such a large scale.
A University of Manitoba psychology professor, Michael Ellery, is looking at the psychological motives and reasons behind gambling and why people continuously gamble, even when the gambler is repeatedly unsuccessful. To conduct his research Ellery has spent time in Las Vegas observing both high stakes gamblers as well as small time VLT gamblers.
According to Ellery the reasons behind continuous and prolonged gambling by some people are their emotional reasoning about gambling and the beliefs behind their gambling behavior.
Some of these beliefs can be superstitions people hold about the luck of gambling. Some superstitions are centered around patterns of payouts from the gambling machines, even the effect of different methods of pushing the buttons or pulling the levers on the amount or possibility of having a machine payout.
Strongly linked with these factors is the role that money plays in influencing problem gamblers, and rational thinking in general.
Money has been largely left out of past studies with regards to the motives for gambling, says Ellery, which is unfortunate in that it is arguably the most central driving force behind addictive gambling behavior.
Past studies have shown that winning money, or the excitement over the possibility of winning money, releases a drug within our brain called dopamine. This drug increases heart rate and gives us a pleasant feeling which reinforces gambling behavior by telling us that what we are doing is good or pleasant, says Ellery.
Dopamine is also the same drug whose effects are felt by drug users. When people are exposed to cocaine, for example, a rush of dopamine gets released in their brain and provides a pleasant, or a “high,” feeling. The same can be said about some addictive gamblers; when they play a hand, pull a lever, or push a button they get a rush of dopamine that feels just like a high. Thus, it is easy to see the biological side of gambling addiction as well.
Ellery also looked at the VLT machines themselves and how they help to perpetuate problem gambling. The machines are programmed to randomly dispense money frequent enough to teach the gambler that winning is possible, but infrequent enough to still make a large profit.
“That’s called an intermittent reinforcement schedule, and the machines do exactly the same thing for people as the lever and pellet reward do for rats. People will continue to play the machines, even though they don’t win very often, just because that pattern of reinforcement produces that long-term play behavior,” said Ellery in a Winnipeg Free Press exclusive interview.
In simple terms, the VLT machines reinforce the gambling behavior by rewarding the gambler every so often.
The same logic can also be applied to the investment gambling that major banks have partaken in, in recent years. The thrill of winning big accompanied with a low personal risk (as it was not their own money they were gambling with) resulted in major financial losses.
Although not all investment bankers are addictive gamblers, there may be connection between the two, especially considering the display of the lack of liability the banks are held to when the investments go sour.
http://www.themanitoban.com/2012/08/gambling-study-may-have-important-real-world-implications-2/11147/
A University of Manitoba psychology professor, Michael Ellery, is looking at the psychological motives and reasons behind gambling and why people continuously gamble, even when the gambler is repeatedly unsuccessful. To conduct his research Ellery has spent time in Las Vegas observing both high stakes gamblers as well as small time VLT gamblers.
According to Ellery the reasons behind continuous and prolonged gambling by some people are their emotional reasoning about gambling and the beliefs behind their gambling behavior.
Some of these beliefs can be superstitions people hold about the luck of gambling. Some superstitions are centered around patterns of payouts from the gambling machines, even the effect of different methods of pushing the buttons or pulling the levers on the amount or possibility of having a machine payout.
Strongly linked with these factors is the role that money plays in influencing problem gamblers, and rational thinking in general.
Money has been largely left out of past studies with regards to the motives for gambling, says Ellery, which is unfortunate in that it is arguably the most central driving force behind addictive gambling behavior.
Past studies have shown that winning money, or the excitement over the possibility of winning money, releases a drug within our brain called dopamine. This drug increases heart rate and gives us a pleasant feeling which reinforces gambling behavior by telling us that what we are doing is good or pleasant, says Ellery.
Dopamine is also the same drug whose effects are felt by drug users. When people are exposed to cocaine, for example, a rush of dopamine gets released in their brain and provides a pleasant, or a “high,” feeling. The same can be said about some addictive gamblers; when they play a hand, pull a lever, or push a button they get a rush of dopamine that feels just like a high. Thus, it is easy to see the biological side of gambling addiction as well.
Ellery also looked at the VLT machines themselves and how they help to perpetuate problem gambling. The machines are programmed to randomly dispense money frequent enough to teach the gambler that winning is possible, but infrequent enough to still make a large profit.
“That’s called an intermittent reinforcement schedule, and the machines do exactly the same thing for people as the lever and pellet reward do for rats. People will continue to play the machines, even though they don’t win very often, just because that pattern of reinforcement produces that long-term play behavior,” said Ellery in a Winnipeg Free Press exclusive interview.
In simple terms, the VLT machines reinforce the gambling behavior by rewarding the gambler every so often.
The same logic can also be applied to the investment gambling that major banks have partaken in, in recent years. The thrill of winning big accompanied with a low personal risk (as it was not their own money they were gambling with) resulted in major financial losses.
Although not all investment bankers are addictive gamblers, there may be connection between the two, especially considering the display of the lack of liability the banks are held to when the investments go sour.
http://www.themanitoban.com/2012/08/gambling-study-may-have-important-real-world-implications-2/11147/
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