Harris Andrew, Gous Georgina, de Wet Bobbie, Griffiths Mark D
International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, 50 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ, UK.
Psychology Department, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
J Gambl Stud. 2021 Mar;37(1):241-268. doi: 10.1007/s10899-020-09955-0.
Speed of play has been identified as a key structural characteristic in gambling behaviour, where games involving higher playing speeds enhance the experience of gambling. Of interest in the present study is the consistent finding that games with higher event frequencies are preferred by problem gamblers and are associated with more negative gambling outcomes, such as difficulty quitting the game and increased monetary loss. The present study investigated the impact of gambling speed of play on executive control functioning, focusing on how increased speeds of play impact motor response inhibition, and the potential mediating role arousal and dissociative experience play in this relationship. Fifty regular non-problem gamblers took part in a repeated-measures experiment where they gambled with real money on a simulated slot machine across five speed of play conditions. Response inhibition was measured using an embedded Go/No-Go task, where participants had to withhold motor responses, rather than operating the spin button on the slot machine when a specific colour cue was present. Results indicated that response inhibition performance was significantly worse during faster speeds of play, and that the role of arousal in this relationship was independent of any motor priming affect. The implications of these findings for gambling legislation and gambling harm-minimisation approaches are discussed.
游戏速度已被确定为赌博行为的一个关键结构特征，在赌博行为中，涉及更高游戏速度的游戏会增强赌博体验。本研究感兴趣的是一个一致的发现，即事件频率较高的游戏更受问题赌徒的青睐，并且与更多负面赌博结果相关，比如难以停止游戏以及金钱损失增加。本研究调查了赌博游戏速度对执行控制功能的影响，重点关注游戏速度的提高如何影响运动反应抑制，以及唤醒和分离体验在这种关系中可能起到的中介作用。五十名普通的非问题赌徒参与了一项重复测量实验，他们在五种游戏速度条件下用真钱在模拟老虎机上赌博。使用嵌入式的“走/停”任务来测量反应抑制，在该任务中，当出现特定颜色提示时，参与者必须抑制运动反应，而不是操作老虎机上的旋转按钮。结果表明，在更快的游戏速度下，反应抑制表现明显更差，并且唤醒在这种关系中的作用独立于任何运动启动效应。本文讨论了这些发现对赌博立法和赌博危害最小化方法的影响。
