Irrational Thinking Among Slot Machine Michael B. Walker, D. Phil. University of Sydney Players According to the cognitive perspective on gambling, regular gamblers persist in trying to win money at gambling because they hold a set of false beliefs about the nature of gambling, the likelihood of winning, and their own expertise. In order to investigate this claim, twenty seven university students were recruited who played one of three types of games at least twice a week: slot machines, video draw poker, and video amusement games. Subjects played their preferred machines on site (clubs, hotels and amusement arcades) first for at least thirty minutes and then the other two games for a minimum of twenty minutes each. During play, each subject spoke aloud into a microphone describing what he or she was doing or thinking about in the game. It was hypothesised that slot machine players would verbalise more irrational thinking than video poker or video amusement players and that slot machines would elicit more irrational thinking than video poker or video amusement machines. Most importantly, it was hypothesised that slot machine players would exhibit relatively greater amounts of irrational thinking when playing their preferred game. The data supported all three hypotheses. Out of all of the statements made by slot machine players when playing slot machines, 38% were eategorised irrational. Furthermore, 80% of the strategic statements made by slot machine players while playing slot machines were categorised as irrational. These results are consistent with earlier work which showed high levels of irrational thinking in artificial gambling games. Together, the results provide support for a cognitive view of the origins of gambling problems. One of the central questions in the psychology of gambling con- cerns why people gamble at all. It is well known that the odds in all legalised gambling games are against the gambler and in favour of the house. Thus, apart from exceptional circumstances, no rational person would gamble if winning money was the only consideration. The Address correspondence and reprint requests to Michael B. Walker, D.Phil,, Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney 2006 AUSTRALIA. Journal of Gambling &udies Vol. 8(3), Fall 1992 9 1992 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 245246 JOURNAL OF GAMBLING STUDIES psychological explanation of gambling takes one of two paths from this assumption: either people are not rational or winning money is not the only consideration. The research reported here focuses on the proposi- tion that people gamble for irrational reasons. It is quite possible that both propositions are correct: that people are irrational in their pursuit of money through gambling and that people gamble for other reasons than making money. If both propositions are correct then research must seek to demonstrate which is the dominant explanation for gambling. The concern with explaining why people gamble goes beyond explicating a curious and unexpected behaviour. Unfortunately, gam- bling can become a problem for some people. It is not simply that some people gamble but that some people gamble to such an extent that the losses jeopardise other aspects of their lives that they value. It is in the explanation of heavy gambling of the kind which causes problems for the gambler and his or her family that the distinction between the two propositions listed becomes important. According to the proposition that gamblers gamble for other reasons than making money, problem gambling results from a failure to control these other aspects of gam- bling. One example of this claim which is currently attracting great support is that the problem gambler is addicted to the arousal or excitement generated by gambling. This kind of claim is not examined in the study to be reported. However, by seeking to establish that gamblers are behaving irrationally in their attempts to make money by gambling, the alternative proposition, that gamblers are gambling for other reasons than making money, is undermined. Indeed, the theo- retical perspective which guides the research reported here is firstly, that problem gambling is about the winning and losing of money and little else; and secondly, that the problem gambler holds a set of false beliefs about gambling from which he or she concludes that money will be won as a result of gambling. It is this second claim which is referred to as "irrational thinking" although, from the perspective of the gam- bler, neither the beliefs nor the gambling behaviours are irrational. In gambling games in which skill plays a role, it is not difficult to see how some gamblers may over-estimate their own ability to win. However, in games of pure chance, there appears to be no basis for believing that one has any special ability to win. Slot machines, for example, produce outcomes which are independent of any strategy of play which the player might introduce. Yet slot machines are popular with large numbers of people wherever they have been legalised. With essentially no chance of winning in the long run, why do people play?MICHAEL B. WALKER 247 REASONS FOR PLAYING SLOT MACHINES Amusement Leary & Dickerson (1985) provide data suggesting that arousal is higher in high frequency slot machine players than low frequency slot machine players. Furthermore, slot machine players report playing for amusement and excitement (Caldwell, 1974; Dickerson, Fabre & Bayliss, 1986). "Amusement" can be taken as an inclusive term repre- senting the measures and reports of players that the activity of playing slot machines is amusing, exciting, arousing and rewarding as an activity in itself. Observers of slot machine players report that the excitement of playing the machine is rarely evident in the faces of the players other than when the machine has a large pay-out (Caldwell, 1974). Thus, there is some disagreement between the self-reports and physiological data on the one hand and observer ratings of excitement on the other hand. What causes the subjective excitement and physiological arousal of slot machine players? Both cognitive and behavioural explanations are possible. However, among the cognitive explanations, a likely candidate is "anticipation of winning." If it