Gambling: Sucked into the Slots

1280859118-slot-machine1Dr. Howard Forman interviewed Dr. David Forest about the reasons behind the great appeal of slot machines. Gambling is a phenomenon that has been sweeping the nation. People are simply captivated by the machines. Dr. Forest attributes the allure of the slots to both players and professionals to the bio-psycho-social attractiveness of the machines.

The machines attract so many players that as a whole, they collect about 1 billion dollars each day. So much money is pouring into the slots that many states are beginning to depend on slot players to maintain their budgets.

Although the love of playing the slots for most players is not pathological, there is a small percent that fall under the DSM diagnosable category of pathological gambling. This group of people are hypnotized by the uninterrupted play and repetitive rhythms of the reels, vertical eye movements, and unpredictable rewards.
For these players, gambling goes beyond winning the money. In fact, many are not expecting to win. If they know they are going to lose, then why play? Well, according to Dr. Forest, players assign transcendent meaning to the outcomes of the slots. It is very common for frequent players to have suffered some trauma or loss in their life. They use gambling in order to seek an escape from the pain of reality.

In addition, separating the frequent gamblers from the new players extends beyond a difference in coping with life experiences. When the slot machine shows a jackpot near miss with one of the three 7s off the pay-line, the pathological gamblers show more activity in portions of the brain that would signal a win.  However, non-pathological gamblers identify the event correctly as a loss. This different in brain activation occurs in the D3 mesolimbic reward pathway.

The allure of gambling is hard to overcome at times, but Dr. Forest reveals to us that for some, playing the slots is used to escape pain. Unfortunately, this escape from reality can be quite expensive and have numerous negative repercussions.

For more information about the psychological elements of playing the slot machines, visit this website.