scholarly journals Cognitive neuroscience can support public health approaches to minimise the harm of ‘losses disguised as wins’ in multiline slot machines

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 2384-2391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Myles ◽  
Adrian Carter ◽  
Murat Yücel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
Losses Disguised As Wins

scholarly journals The maximum rewards at the minimum price: Reinforcement rates and payback percentages in multi-line slot machines

2011 ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Harrigan ◽  
Michael Dixon ◽  
Vance MacLaren ◽  
Karen Collins ◽  
Jonathan Fugelsang
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Reinforcement Rate ◽  
Slot Machine ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
Losses Disguised As Wins ◽  
Minimum Price ◽  
Machine Games ◽  
Payback Percentage

Past research has shown that gamblers frequently use the mini-max strategy in multi-line slot machines, whereby the player places the minimum bet on the maximum number of lines. Through a detailed analysis and explanation of the design of multi-line slot machine games, we show that when using the mini-max strategy, the payback percentage remains unchanged, yet the reinforcement rate is significantly increased. This increase in reinforcement rate is mainly due to spins in which the amount won is less than the amount wagered, which we call losses disguised as wins. We have verified these conclusions by playing an actual slot machine game for 10,000 spins and recording the results. We believe that the high reinforcement rate that results from playing multiple lines on games of this type contributes to their potential addictiveness. We provide three theories for why players use the mini-max strategy and suggest further areas of research.

Losses disguised as wins in modern multi-line video slot machines

Addiction ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 105 (10) ◽  
pp. 1819-1824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike J. Dixon ◽  
Kevin A. Harrigan ◽  
Rajwant Sandhu ◽  
Karen Collins ◽  
Jonathan A. Fugelsang
Keyword(s):  
Slot Machines ◽  
Losses Disguised As Wins

scholarly journals Measuring Gamblers’ Behaviour to Show That Negative Sounds Can Reveal the True Nature of Losses Disguised as Wins in Multiline Slot Machines

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly L. Scarfe ◽  
Madison Stange ◽  
Mike J. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Slot Machine ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
True Nature ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Losses Disguised As Wins ◽  
Sound Condition

Abstract Losses disguised as wins (LDWs) are slot machine outcomes where players gain fewer credits than they wager. Despite being losses, slot machines celebrate LDWs with positive sounds and animations, leading gamblers to respond to them as wins. It is unknown how manipulating the sound following LDWs may influence gamblers’ behaviour. In Experiment 1, participants played two conditions on a realistic slot machine simulator: a (standard) positive sound condition (LDWs paired with positive sound, losses paired with silence), and a negative sound condition (LDWs and losses paired with negative sound). We measured participants’ behavioural responses [post-reinforcement pauses (PRPs)], win estimates, and subjective experience. In the negative sound condition, participants behaviourally responded to LDWs in a more loss-like and less win-like fashion, as measured by PRPs. Win estimates were reduced, and subjective experience was significantly impacted, but only when the negative sound condition was played second. In Experiment 2, we employed a much more subtle manipulation, pairing only LDWs with negative sound, and observed similar effects. Through these two experiments, we show that pairing LDWs with negative sound is an effective way to modify players’ responses to LDWs, causing them to respond to them more like the losses they are, rather than the wins they seem.

Using Sound to Unmask Losses Disguised as Wins in Multiline Slot Machines

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike J. Dixon ◽  
Karen Collins ◽  
Kevin A. Harrigan ◽  
Candice Graydon ◽  
Jonathan A. Fugelsang
Keyword(s):  
Slot Machines ◽  
Losses Disguised As Wins

scholarly journals An introduction to video instant ticket vending machines

2015 ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vance V. MacLaren ◽  
Kevin A. Harrigan ◽  
Michael J. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
Gambling Behaviour ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Vending Machines ◽  
The North ◽  
Losses Disguised As Wins ◽  
Electronic Gambling ◽  
Ticket Vending Machines ◽  
Gambling Prevention

Video Instant Ticket Vending Machines (V-ITVMs) are a new form of electronic gambling machine currently being introduced to the North American markets of Ontario, Maryland, Missouri and New Mexico. The present paper is intended to raise awareness among regulators, problem gambling researchers, and clinicians about the nature of these games. These V-ITVMs resemble slot machines and present audiovisual content along with the sale of the tickets. We discuss several potentially harmful features of these games, ones which may promote problem gambling behaviour, such as fast continuous play, losses disguised as wins, near misses, deceptive bonus rounds, and a tendency to promote false beliefs among players who are vulnerable to disordered gambling behaviour. Effective programs for problem gambling prevention and treatment should be implemented as vital parts of any initiative to introduce V-ITVMs.

Normocentric biases taint cognitive neuroscience and intervention of autism

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Mottron
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Repetitive Behaviors ◽  
Restricted Interests ◽  
Autistic People

Abstract Stepping away from a normocentric understanding of autism goes beyond questioning the supposed lack of social motivation of autistic people. It evokes subversion of the prevalence of intellectual disability even in non-verbal autism. It also challenges the perceived purposelessness of some restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, and instead interprets them as legitimate exploratory and learning-associated manifestations.

Cognitive gadgets and cognitive priors

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gian Domenico Iannetti ◽  
Giorgio Vallortigara
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Some of the foundations of Heyes’ radical reasoning seem to be based on a fractional selection of available evidence. Using an ethological perspective, we argue against Heyes’ rapid dismissal of innate cognitive instincts. Heyes’ use of fMRI studies of literacy to claim that culture assembles pieces of mental technology seems an example of incorrect reverse inferences and overlap theories pervasive in cognitive neuroscience.

Public Health and Newborn Hearing Screening

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Terrey Oliver Penn ◽  
Susan E. Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hearing Screening ◽  
Newborn Hearing Screening ◽  
Newborn Hearing
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