- Operant Conditioning And Gambling
- Gambling Operant Conditioning Units
- Gambling Operant Conditioning Training
Why People Enjoy Betting
Operant Conditioning is when behavior is strengthened or weakened by positive or negative reinforcements (Goldstein p. As a parent I deal with my children's bad behaviors, as well as their good behaviors. Operant Conditioning shows how behavior is influenced by three different types of responses or operant that affects behavior. Similar to classical conditioning, operant conditioning can be applied in animal training. Moreover, this type of conditioning is applicable in the design of video games and gambling devices. There are three types of operant conditionin g and they are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment.
Operant Conditioning And Gambling
The Lure of Gambling Online
Eye-catching graphics, spinning wheels and close-wins keep gamblers motivated and playing. Rewards, no matter how small create a pleasure sensation in the brain, a form of operant conditioning (explained in a moment). What could be more satisfying for a gambler nursing a slot machine all evening than the sound of clattering coins in the tray? With online gambling on the rise, there is an equivalent sound and graphic to spur the gambler on. Such rewards create an altered psychological state that becomes addictive. This part interested me. How could I describe this altered state of mind for the reader, even though I do not have a gambling habit myself?
Why People Play Gambling Games
On closer inspection, I learned that gambling companies use every trick in the book to keep their customers betting, such as the following:
- The ambient atmosphere of casinos and arcades relax the customer and make the activity feel more private. It is easy to lose track of time when in an intimate setting.
- Some casinos offer free drinks and cheap buffet meals and place chairs only at slot machines or tables. This might compel a tired customer to sit and relax, and perhaps have a flutter.
- Loyal customers earn free or cheap ‘play time' which implies the customer is getting a great deal from the establishment's facilities, but in fact loses out.
- Exchanging money for chips or vouchers to spend in casinos takes away the reality of what is lost, as the plastic lacks the feel of real money.
Problem with Gambling
Although not a gambling addict myself, like many people, have found certain things addictive. Take Tetris for one. In pure operant Pavlovian style I have experienced the surge of satisfaction each time a row of tiles flicker away. Two hours can seem fleeting whilst playing Tetris. Little better was Angry Birds and Bejeweled. The bright graphics and the little fanfairs create that altered psychological state that gamblers are addicted to.
Operant Conditioning and Gambling Rewards
Last updated: 11/14/2018
Author: Addictions.com Medical Review
Reading Time: 3minutes
Aria poker tournaments results payouts. While no actual physical components drive it, a gambling addiction can take hold of a person's life in much the same way as an alcohol or drug addiction. A loss of control over gambling can bleed into work life and relationships just like any other type of addiction. This leaves the mind and its thinking patterns as the main driving forces behind the addition. Likewise, treatment for gambling addiction relies heavily on behavioral approaches that help a person break the addiction by breaking the thinking patterns that feed it.
A 'Process' Addiction
Finding treatment for gambling addiction doesn't have to be overwhelming.
A process addiction is an uncontrollable urge to do something repeatedly in spite of how it affects your social and/or financial well-being. Gambling addictions fit the bill to a tee. Rather than the combined physical and mental urges brought on by substance abuse addictions, process addictions are behavior-based in terms of the behavior itself as the main driver of the addiction.
Because of this behavioral component, treatment for gambling addiction relies heavily on behavioral therapies. The rush and excitement (or 'high') gambling brings works in much the same way as the high experienced from doing drugs. Instead of a physical high driving the addiction, a person's actions and choices set the addiction in motion when it comes to gambling. Treatment for gambling addiction focuses on replacing the actions and choices that trigger gambling with more productive ones.
Behavior Therapy
Gambling Operant Conditioning Units
As treatment for gambling addiction centers around eliminating destructive gambling behaviors, behavior therapies (based on the classical conditioning model) are a commonly used treatment approach. According to the University of North Texas Libraries resource site, behavior therapy may involve one or more of three different techniques:
- Aversion therapy
- Imaginal desensitization
- In vivo exposure
When used as a treatment for gambling addiction, aversion therapy uses an unpleasant stimulus, such as a small electric shock or loud noise to recondition a person's response to gambling behavior.
Imaginal desensitization involves using relaxation techniques and visualization exercises to change a person's physical response to gambling activities. Like imaginal desensitization, in vivo approaches combine relaxation techniques with the actual experience of gambling to recondition a person's physical response.
Treatment for gambling addiction typically takes place in either individual or group therapy settings as part of a treatment program.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
While behavior therapy approaches work directly on a person's gambling behaviors, cognitive behavioral therapy targets the underlying belief systems that fuel a gambling addiction. As a treatment for gambling addiction, the cognitive behavioral approach seeks to help a person see gambling in a different way. By changing a person's underlying belief system, thoughts and behaviors naturally follow suit.
- The ambient atmosphere of casinos and arcades relax the customer and make the activity feel more private. It is easy to lose track of time when in an intimate setting.
- Some casinos offer free drinks and cheap buffet meals and place chairs only at slot machines or tables. This might compel a tired customer to sit and relax, and perhaps have a flutter.
- Loyal customers earn free or cheap ‘play time' which implies the customer is getting a great deal from the establishment's facilities, but in fact loses out.
- Exchanging money for chips or vouchers to spend in casinos takes away the reality of what is lost, as the plastic lacks the feel of real money.
Problem with Gambling
Although not a gambling addict myself, like many people, have found certain things addictive. Take Tetris for one. In pure operant Pavlovian style I have experienced the surge of satisfaction each time a row of tiles flicker away. Two hours can seem fleeting whilst playing Tetris. Little better was Angry Birds and Bejeweled. The bright graphics and the little fanfairs create that altered psychological state that gamblers are addicted to.
Operant Conditioning and Gambling Rewards
Last updated: 11/14/2018
Author: Addictions.com Medical Review
Reading Time: 3minutes
Aria poker tournaments results payouts. While no actual physical components drive it, a gambling addiction can take hold of a person's life in much the same way as an alcohol or drug addiction. A loss of control over gambling can bleed into work life and relationships just like any other type of addiction. This leaves the mind and its thinking patterns as the main driving forces behind the addition. Likewise, treatment for gambling addiction relies heavily on behavioral approaches that help a person break the addiction by breaking the thinking patterns that feed it.
A 'Process' Addiction
Finding treatment for gambling addiction doesn't have to be overwhelming.
A process addiction is an uncontrollable urge to do something repeatedly in spite of how it affects your social and/or financial well-being. Gambling addictions fit the bill to a tee. Rather than the combined physical and mental urges brought on by substance abuse addictions, process addictions are behavior-based in terms of the behavior itself as the main driver of the addiction.
Because of this behavioral component, treatment for gambling addiction relies heavily on behavioral therapies. The rush and excitement (or 'high') gambling brings works in much the same way as the high experienced from doing drugs. Instead of a physical high driving the addiction, a person's actions and choices set the addiction in motion when it comes to gambling. Treatment for gambling addiction focuses on replacing the actions and choices that trigger gambling with more productive ones.
Behavior Therapy
Gambling Operant Conditioning Units
As treatment for gambling addiction centers around eliminating destructive gambling behaviors, behavior therapies (based on the classical conditioning model) are a commonly used treatment approach. According to the University of North Texas Libraries resource site, behavior therapy may involve one or more of three different techniques:
- Aversion therapy
- Imaginal desensitization
- In vivo exposure
When used as a treatment for gambling addiction, aversion therapy uses an unpleasant stimulus, such as a small electric shock or loud noise to recondition a person's response to gambling behavior.
Imaginal desensitization involves using relaxation techniques and visualization exercises to change a person's physical response to gambling activities. Like imaginal desensitization, in vivo approaches combine relaxation techniques with the actual experience of gambling to recondition a person's physical response.
Treatment for gambling addiction typically takes place in either individual or group therapy settings as part of a treatment program.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
While behavior therapy approaches work directly on a person's gambling behaviors, cognitive behavioral therapy targets the underlying belief systems that fuel a gambling addiction. As a treatment for gambling addiction, the cognitive behavioral approach seeks to help a person see gambling in a different way. By changing a person's underlying belief system, thoughts and behaviors naturally follow suit.
Cognitive behavioral therapy also addresses other underlying issues that may feed a gambling addiction, such as unresolved problems surrounding a person's self-image, relationships with others and mental health problems. By working through any unresolved issues, a person has no reason to use gambling as an escape outlet.
Gambling Operant Conditioning Training
As part of a cognitive behavioral treatment for gambling addiction, participants also confront any irrational beliefs they may have about gambling and the actual risks involved. Since a gambling addiction functions as a behavior-based, process addiction, behavior-based treatments work best when it comes to breaking the addiction's hold on a person's life.
