Predictors of Return Rate Discrimination in Slot Machine Play

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which accurate estimates of payback percentages and volatility combined with prior learning, enabled players to successfully discriminate between multi-line/multi-credit slot machines that provided differing rates of reinforcement. The aim was to determine if the capacity to discriminate structural characteristics of gaming machines influenced player choices in selecting ‘favourite’ slot machines. Slot machine gambling history, gambling beliefs and knowledge, impulsivity, illusions of control, and problem solving style were assessed in a sample of 48 first year undergraduate psychology students. Participants were subsequently exposed to a choice paradigm where they could freely select to play either of two concurrently presented PC-simulated slot machines programmed to randomly differ in expected player return rates (payback percentage) and win frequency (volatility). Results suggest that prior learning and cognitions (particularly gambler’s fallacy) but not payback, were major contributors to the ability of a player to discriminate volatility between slot machines. Participants displayed a general tendency to discriminate payback, but counter-intuitively placed more bets on the slot machine with lower payback percentage rates.     

Dark Flow,Depression and Multiline Slot Machine Play

Multiline slot machines allow for a unique outcome type referred to as a loss disguised as a win (LDW). An LDW occurs when a player gains credits on a spin, but fewer credits than their original wager (e.g. 15-cent gain on a 20-cent wager). These outcomes alter the gambler’s play experience by providing frequent, albeit smaller, credit gains throughout a playing session that are in fact net losses. Despite this negative overall value, research has shown that players physiologically respond to LDWs as if they are wins, not losses. These outcomes also create a “smoother” experience for the player that seems to promote a highly absorbing, flow-like state that we have called “dark flow”. Past research has indicated that there may be a relationship between problem gambling status and dark flow, as well as between dark flow, depression, and gambling expectancies. In this study, we sought to further understand these relationships, while examining the influence of LDWs on game preference in the context of single versus multiline slots play. We used a realistic slot machine simulator equipped with a force transducer to measure how hard players pressed the spin button following different outcomes. This measure of arousal showed that LDWs were treated similarly to small wins. Participants overwhelmingly preferred the multiline game and experienced more positive affect while playing it, compared to the single-line game. Problem gambling severity index scores were related to dark flow in both games, but this relationship was stronger for the multiline game. Additionally, depression symptomatology and dark flow were strongly correlated in the multiline game, with significant relationships between depression and gambling expectancy, and gambling expectancy and dark flow ratings also emerging.     

Modern Multi-line Slot Machine Games: The Effect of Lines Wagered on Winners,Losers, Bonuses,and Losses Disguised as Wins

We simulated the commercially available multi-line slot machine game “Money Storm,” including its bonus wins. Our results show that after a specified amount of time (such as 1 or 50 h), when players played a single line, there were marked differences between one player and the next—a few won a lot, others lost far more than average. When playing 20 lines there were fewer big winners and fewer players quickly losing a large percentage of their money. We simulated a Gambler’s Ruin scenario whereby players arrived with $100 and made $1 wagers until broke. Again we saw a reduction in the variability among player as the number of lines wagered increased, fewer players lost their entire bankroll quickly, and fewer players had big wins. The bonus wins in Money Storm contribute approximately 24 % to the payback of the game, and our simulations of bonus wins shows that with 20 lines wagered the players spend approximately 11 % of their time in bonus wins. With one line wagered, there are no losses disguised as wins while with 20 lines wagered the majority of hits are losses disguised as wins. Players using multi-line machines can thus tune the characteristics of the machine gambling experience to match their preferred pattern, though most seem in practice to bet on the most possible lines. Our results serve to inform researchers, counsellors, gamblers and others about how slot machines are designed, and the effect that wagering on multiple lines has on short-term and long-term play, bonus wins, and losses disguised as wins.     

The Impact of Sound in Modern Multiline Video Slot Machine Play

Slot machine wins and losses have distinctive, measurable, physiological effects on players. The contributing factors to these effects remain under-explored. We believe that sound is one of these key contributing factors. Sound plays an important role in reinforcement, and thus on arousal level and stress response of players. It is the use of sound for positive reinforcement in particular that we believe influences the player. In the current study, we investigate the role that sound plays in psychophysical responses to slot machine play. A total of 96 gamblers played a slot machine simulator with and without sound being paired with reinforcement. Skin conductance responses and heart rate, as well as subjective judgments about the gambling experience were examined. The results showed that the sound influenced the arousal of participants both psychophysically and psychologically. The sound also influenced players’ preferences, with the majority of players preferring to play slot machines that were accompanied by winning sounds. The sounds also caused players to significantly overestimate the number of times they won while playing the slot machine.     

Near-Misses and Stop Buttons in Slot Machine Play: An Investigation of How They Affect Players,and May Foster Erroneous Cognitions

In modern casinos, multiline slot machines are becoming increasingly popular compared to traditional, three-reel slot machines. A paucity of research has examined how the unique presentation of near-misses and the use of a stop button in multiline slot machines impact erroneous cognitions related to the perception of skill and agency during play. Our goal therefore was to determine the prevalence of erroneous cognitions pertaining to near-miss outcomes and the usage of a stop button and then to see whether the stop button affected players’ experiences of winning, losing and near-miss outcomes. We recruited 132 gamblers from a casino in Ontario. They played two versions of a slot machine simulator: one with a stop button and one without a stop button. We measured player’s arousal [skin conductance responses (SCRs), pressure on the spin-button), and behavioural responses (post-reinforcement pauses (PRPs)] to wins, losses and near-misses during play. We predicted more robust physiological SCRs and longer PRPs to wins in the stop button game. We also predicted that near-misses encountered in the stop button game would trigger greater levels of arousal and frustration in players, as indexed by larger SCRs, and greater force applied to the spin button to initiate the next spin. Erroneous cognitions pertaining to the stop button and near-misses respectively were assessed following play. Results showed that a small but meaningful percentage of players held erroneous cognitions about the stop button (13.6%) and near-misses (16%). Players depressed the spin button harder, and had larger SCRs for all outcomes when using the stop button. Players also paused longer for near-misses in the game involving the stop button. Our findings converge to suggest that the stop button encourages an erroneous perception of skill in some players, and consequentially impacts how such players perceive their outcomes in multiline slot machines.     

Definition and Measurement of Chasing in Off-Course Betting and Gaming Machine Play

The attempt to recover gambling losses by continuing to gamble (chasing) has featured prominently in accounts of excessive gambling. This research represents the first attempt to operationalize and measure chasing in terms of its cognitive (behavioral intention), emotive (urges) and behavioral components, and to investigate the role of chasing in relation to impaired control over gambling. Two survey samples of 84 male off-course (betting shop) race gamblers (mean age 41, SD = 15) and 137 gaming machine players (73 females, mean age 48, SD = 15 and 64 males, mean age 43, SD = 16) were recruited at gambling venues. Respondents completed a structured questionnaire that investigated retrospective report of chasing and an impaired control scale (The Scale of Gambling Choices). It was found that the various components of chasing formed a composite measure with high internal reliability that was strongly related to indicators of excessive gambling (e.g. time spent gambling, expenditure as a proportion of income) and to impaired control scores. Reacting to large wins by further betting was almost as strongly related to impaired control as was persistence after losing. Those who returned later to chase had significantly higher impaired control scores than those who only chased within a session. Alcohol-related chasing was associated with impaired control over gambling. Chasing of losses and impaired control appear to be generic processes in evidence across both forms of gambling and gender (most format and sex differences were of minor significance).     

Upping the ante: relative caregivers' perceptions of changes in child welfare policies

Thirty-five caregivers of related children who were in the custody of the child welfare system were interviewed individually or in focus groups as the state child welfare system implemented new federal and state policies encouraging these caregivers to adopt or assume guardianship of the children in their care. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative methods. Issues of concern included emergency entrance into caregiving; the simultaneous satisfaction and burden of caregiving; obstacles to caregiving, adoption, or guardianship; complex changes in family dynamics following placement of children; sources of support; and caution regarding adoption or guardianship. The caregivers also offered recommendations for the child welfare system. Policy, practice, and research implications are discussed.     

Playing by the rules: Restricted endowment assets in colleges and universities

Endowments serve as financial buffers and safety nets for post‐secondary institutions in uncertain financial times. Donor‐restricted gifts and bequests often complicate the management and deployment of endowment assets. Public policy concerns, the Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Acts, and related case law are changing approaches used by states to alter the donors' “dead hand” when time and circumstances make carrying out conditions of restricted bequests unworkable.     

The Frustrating Effects of Just Missing the Jackpot: Slot Machine Near-Misses Trigger Large Skin Conductance Responses, But No Post-reinforcement Pauses

Near-misses in slot machines resemble jackpot wins but fall just short. Previous research has demonstrated that near-misses are behaviorally reinforcing despite the absence of monetary reward. We assessed the hedonic properties of near-misses by measuring the time between outcome delivery and the initiation of the next spin—the post-reinforcement pause (PRP) and skin conductance responses (SCRs) for losses, near-misses, and a range of wins (5, 15, 25, 50 or 250 credits) while participants (N = 122) played a slot machine simulator. PRPs and SCRs were compared for 40 low frequency and 22 high frequency slots players who were non-problem gamblers, 37 at risk players, and 23 problem gamblers. For winning outcomes, PRPs and SCRs tracked monotonically with win size such that progressively larger wins were associated with progressively larger PRPs and SCRs. Near-misses with jackpot symbols landing on the first two reels had significantly larger SCRs than regular losses, and other types of near misses. Crucially, PRPs for this kind of near-miss were significantly smaller than all wins, and when non-parametric statistics were used, significantly smaller than regular losses. This pattern of large SCRs and small PRPs suggest that these are highly frustrating outcomes that stimulate appetitive components of the reward system to promote continued gambling.     

Playing by the Rules of the Game: Women's Experiences and Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Sport*

Cet article explore les expériences et les perceptions ltées au harcè-lement sexuel, qui sévit parmi les athlètes féminines entraînées par des hommes, au sein de l'élite sportive, haut lieu du règne masculin. À partir des témoignages de 32 athlètes féminines, l'article se concentre sur les interprétations que font les femmes des compor-tements dont elles sont les victimes, et situe leurs expériences dans le contexte plus large de la discrimination et du harcèlement fondés sur le sexe, qui conditionnent en grande partie leur expérience du sport. L'article envisage la possibilité de remettre en question le harcèlement sexuel dans le milieu sportif en modifiant les conditions dans lesquelles les femmes pratiquent le sport. This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of sexual harassment among women athletes coached by men in the male-dominated world of elite sport. Drawing on interviews with 32 female athletes, we focus on the women's own interpretations of the behaviours they encounter, and locate their experiences of sexual harassment within the broader context of gender harassment and discrimination which shapes much of their experience in sport. We consider the possibility of challenging sexual harassment in sport by changing the terms of women's participation.     

Drawing Lines in the Dirt:

Rural lesbian communities offer radical lifestyle alternatives for women by providing access to places that are safe and separate for male-dominated culture. These “lesbianlands” include a variety of emphases and have impacted mainstream society in numerous ways. However, the stressors of community living and rural life proved difficult for many, and the numbers of such groups have dropped contexts of these groups, their psychological implications, and the shape of the ongoing movement. Suggestions for clinical practice are included.     

Understanding Play in the Treatment of an Encopretic Boy

This paper provides a clinical illustration of the symbolic use of play in the treatment of an encopretic boy of eight. The historical and contemporary literature relating to both play and to encopresis are reviewed. Process material and case formulation are presented to provide examples of the way in which intrapsychic conflict is interpreted.     

Playing in the academic field: Non-native English-speaking academics in UK business schools

This paper draws on Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and capital to explore the ways in which working in English as a non-native language influences foreign academics' performance of academic habitus and the level of their symbolic capital necessary for the achievement of success within UK higher education. Empirically, it is based on interviews with 54 non-native English-speaking academics employed in UK business schools. Our findings point to advantages and disadvantages associated with being a non-native English-speaking academic, to strategies deployed by individuals to enhance their linguistic capital, and to the importance of language not merely as a tool of communication but as a key factor enabling individuals to perform academic habitus in the UK academic field. We reflect on whether, and if so, how, the UK academic field is changing as a result of the increased presence within it of non-UK-born academics and, in particular, the fact of their professional functioning in English as a non-native language.     

Constructions and reconstructions of self in virtual reality: Playing in the MUDs

There are over 300 multi‐user games based on at least 13 different kinds of software on the international computer network known as the Internet. Here I use the term “MUD “ to refer to all the various kinds. All provide worlds for social interaction in a virtual space, worlds in which you can present yourself as a “character,” in which you can be anonymous, in which you can play a role or roles as close or as far away from your “real self as you choose.

In the MUDS, the projections of self are engaged in a resolutely postmodern context. Authorship is not only displaced from a solitary voice, it is exploded. The self is not only decentered but multiplied without limit. There is an unparalleled opportunity to play with one's identity and to “try out” new ones. MUDS are a new environment for the construction and reconstruction of self.     

Correlates and Predictors of Lottery Play in the United Kingdom

Previous studies of lottery play have tended to adopt one particular approach, concentrating on demographic, personality, cognitive, or social aspects of play. Using the recently introduced United Kingdom National Lottery, this study investigated variables associated with all of these approaches within an overall integrative framework. In a community sample (N = 160), Lottery play was positively correlated with friends' Lottery play, Instants Lottery play, frequency of other gambling, and misunderstanding of Lottery probability, and negatively correlated with level of education. In a regression analysis, friends' Lottery play, Instants Lottery play, and education level were significant unique predictors of Lottery play, and a combination of these and other variables accounted for 38% of the variance in playing behavior. The results are discussed predominantly in terms of the nature of lotteries as a social activity.     

浮动汇率下的埃及进出口贸易

1999年,埃经济发生危机,外汇短缺,政府无法坚守埃镑的原汇率,从今年1月起,实行浮动汇率制.但从埃外贸现状和实行浮动汇率制的背景看,近期内埃外贸赤字无法改变,但随着汇率的稳定、外贸结构的调整、政府政策的正确干预,必会从浮动汇率制上获益.