Reward processing, motivation and emotional responding during slot machine play

玩老虎机时的奖励处理、动机和情绪反应

• 批准号: 203130-2013
• 负责人: Dixon, Michael
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=593765
• 关键词: Reward; processing; motivation; emotional; responding

One of the most popular forms of gambling involves slot machine play. This proposal investigates how players react emotionally to certain slot machine outcomes. Near-misses occur when players "just miss" the jackpot (e.g., get two 7s on the payline with the third just off the payline). Losses disguised as wins (LDWs) occur when a player "wins" back less than they wager on that spin. On modern slot machines players can bet for example 5 cents on each of 20 lines for a total wager of $1.00. When they spin and lose their dollar, the machine goes into a state of quiet. When they spin and win a dollar the machine highlights the win with flashing lines, and a winning song. When they spin and get back say back 25 cents (i.e., the LOSE 75 cents) the machine still celebrates the "win" with flashing lines and winning songs. Certain slots features give players the illusion that they have some control over what are random outcomes. For example players can push a "stop-button" to stop the spinning reels. All the stop button does is reveal the randomly selected outcome more quickly. When a win occurs after a player uses the stop button, they sometimes attribute the win to the timing of their stop-button press. The goal is to show that this illusion of control over slots outcomes exaggerates the emotional reactions to the slots outcomes. I will use skin conductance (when we are excited or frustrated our hands sweat) and post-reinforcement pauses (when players spin and win, they pause slightly before initiating the next spin) to document these exaggerated reactions. I will show that in slot machine play, wins cause excitement, and near-misses cause frustration, but also increase the urge to continue gambling. I will then show that features like the stop-button cause players react even more strongly to wins and near-misses. I will show that LDWs cause players to feel like they are on a "hot streak" even when they are losing money and this effect is exaggerated when players feel they control outcomes. This research will better our understanding of the motivation to gamble, emotions while gambling, and how we (mis)interpret rewards while gambling.

其中最流行的赌博形式涉及老虎机游戏。这项提案调查了玩家对某些老虎机结果的情绪反应。当玩家“刚好错过”该头奖时（例如，在支付线上获得两个7分，第三个7分就在支付线之外）。当玩家“赢”回的钱少于他们在该旋转上下注的钱时，就会发生伪装成赢的损失（LDW）。在现代老虎机上，玩家可以在20条线中的每条线上下注5美分，总赌注为1.00美元。当他们旋转并失去他们的美元时，机器进入安静状态。当他们旋转并赢得一美元时，机器会用闪烁的线条和获胜的歌曲来突出显示胜利。当他们旋转并回来时，说回来25美分（即，失去75美分）的机器仍然庆祝“赢”与闪烁的线条和获胜的歌曲。某些老虎机功能让玩家产生错觉，以为他们可以控制随机结果。例如，玩家可以按下“停止按钮”来停止旋转卷轴。停止按钮所做的只是更快地显示随机选择的结果。当玩家使用停止按钮后获胜时，他们有时会将胜利归因于他们按下停止按钮的时间。我们的目标是证明，这种对老虎机结果的控制错觉夸大了老虎机结果的情绪反应。我将使用皮肤电导（当我们兴奋或沮丧时，我们的手会出汗）和强化后停顿（当玩家旋转并获胜时，他们在开始下一个旋转之前稍微停顿）来记录这些夸张的反应。我将展示在老虎机游戏中，赢了会引起兴奋，差一点就输了会引起沮丧，但也会增加继续赌博的冲动。然后，我将展示像停止按钮这样的功能会导致玩家对胜利和差点失败的反应更加强烈。我将证明，LDW会让玩家感觉自己处于“连胜”状态，即使他们正在赔钱，而当玩家觉得他们控制了结果时，这种影响就会被夸大。这项研究将使我们更好地了解赌博的动机，赌博时的情绪，以及我们如何（错误）解释赌博时的奖励。