The purpose of the present study was to investigate response allocation amongst two concurrently available computerized slot machines, one dispensing Losses Disguised as Wins (LDWs) while the other did not. Both payouts were equal in the beginning and became consistently worst for the LDW machine by lowering the payout each phase. LDWs are slot machine outcomes, participants bet on a slot machine and win back less than their wager. This may be a problem because participants may react to LDWs as a win, misleading the participant to think they are winning more than they actually are. In the present study the LDW outcome payout started at 80 percent payback and decrease by 20 percent each phase and non LDW, maintained at 400 percent payback over 12 percent of the trials. Twenty individuals were recruited by the researcher. Results indicated that a higher percentages of spins were allocated to the machine dispensing LDW. These results suggest that gamblers have a preference for LDW machines because of the reinforcement of the misleading factors that may indicated a win. Keywords: Gambling, LDW, slot machine, visual basic

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Katelyn Louise Decker, Master of Science Degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy, presented on April 30, 2015, at Southern Illinois University TITLE: EFFECTS OF GAMBLING OUTCOMES ON LEVEL OF IMPULSIVITY MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Mark R. Dixon The effects of exposure to winning and losing gambling outcomes on levels of impulsivity among non-gamblers were investigated in a within-subjects experimental design with randomization of treatment phases. Participants included 20 non-gamblers (10 male, 10 female), 18 years or older, selected from a sample of 40 volunteers who completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (Lesieur & Blume, 1987) and received a score of 0, indicating no predictors of potential pathological gambling. Dependent measures of levels of impulsivity were recorded using an abbreviated version of the delayed discounting questionnaire described by Dixon et al. (2003). Derived k-values were calculated by fitting indifference points at each delay to the hyperbolic equation proposed by Mazur (1987) and average k-value was calculated for each participant across delays. Participants were exposed to both winning and losing outcomes by completing 25 trials within a slot-machine task programmed in Microsoft Visual Basic Express Edition 2008 (Maclin, et al., 2006, p. 127-154). Results were subjected to statistical analysis to determine whether a statistically significant, functional relationship existed between increases and decreases in level of impulsivity (k-value) in comparison to baseline. Across all participants, regardless of order of experimental conditions, results indicated a more than 26% decrease (-82.20-3133.33) in level of impulsivity (0-2.1694) following a losing outcome and a more than 24% decrease (-89.95-3300) in level of impulsivity (0-2.1694) following a winning outcome in comparison to baseline (0-2.3056). Results are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to winning outcomes decrease impulsivity, but inconsistent with the hypothesis that exposure to losing outcomes increase impulsivity. Historical perspectives of pathological gambling, social impacts of gambling disorder, and trait and state-dependent perspectives of impulsivity are discussed. Potential implications for further research using delayed discounting measures are provided, as well as potential limitations of the present study. Keywords: gambling, impulsivity, delayed discounting, slot-machine, outcomes

Thesis concentrates on the problem of gambling on the second grade of the basic school. Thesis consists of two parts " theoretical and practical. The theoretical part is target on characterising of the term dependency and characterise causes and conditions of the dependency inception. Thereinafter the thesis target on the diagnostic of dependencies for basic school teachers and their managing of problems with the dependency. The thesis tries to find out possibilities and efficiency of the prevention on the basic school. In more details focus this thesis on the problem of gambling, its murmurs, causations and possibilities of detoxification. At the close of this thesis is situated the actual state evaluation of gambling in the Czech Republic. The practical part attend to actual state of gambling on the second grade of basic schools. The main part theoretical parts concentrates on questionnaire evaluation, shows differences between big town, small town and a village. This practical part contains also statistical calculations.

The near-miss effect has been demonstrated to maintain gambling behavior by producing physiological changes or thoughts that an individual has "almost won" or was "close" to a winning outcome when, in fact, they lost. Participants were asked to rate each outcome presented on a 10-point Likert scale regarding how close they perceived an outcome was to a win on an automated slot machine created on a Visual Basic program. Data was analyzed for differences between similar outcomes presented with and without an auditory stimulus. Near-miss outcomes presented with an auditory stimulus were rated significantly higher than near-miss outcomes without an auditory stimulus on average across participants. Implications may reveal the effects auditory stimuli on modernized slot machines have on gambling behavior and options for treatment.

Negative expected values typically define the behavior of gambling whereby a person risks more money than probabilistically will be returned. Modern slot machines represent the most popular topography of site gambling, and are thought to encourage irrational gambling behaviors through the presentation of outcome stimuli that occasion the gambler to inaccurately detect the programmed contingencies. One recently added characteristic of modern slot machines is the ability to deliver wins with lower magnitudes of credits than the initially staked wagers. Termed a "loss disguised as a win" (LDW), this type of consequence appears to produce reinforcement effects despite representing an overall loss of credits. In a series of three experiments using computer simulated slot machines, the presentation of LDWs were initially evaluated for possible influence on the temporal characteristics of repeated wagers, subsequently examined to potentially bias response allocation across concurrently available LDW display densities, and finally appraised after discrimination training designed to potentially alter the discriminative and consequential functions of LDWs. Treatment implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Problem gambling is a growing social concern that results in debt, lost jobs, broken families, and at times, suicide. Slot machines are the most popular and most addictive form of gambling, generating nearly 70% of annual profits for the commercial casino industry in North America. Behavioral researchers have identified variables that establish and maintain problem gambling on slot machines, and the data reveal characteristics that influence preference for specific games, and subsequently, time spent engaged with specific machines. A degree of variability has been reported in the outcomes observed across participants and studies; such variability may be influenced by generic features of the games used by researchers utilizing a “one machine suits all” approach to slot research, i.e., within most studies a single machine is used for all participants rather than chosen according to participant preference for the machine or features therein. The following set of studies aimed to investigate variables related to slot machine selection, gambler preference for structural characteristics, and the reinforcing effectiveness of the machine on gambling behavior. The first of three experiments evaluated participant preference for functional and structural characteristics of popular three-, four- and five-reel electronic Vegas-style slot machines according to (a) a Likert rating scale of attitudes toward the machines, (b) forced ranking of most-preferred machines, and (c) a paired-stimulus preference assessment. Experiment II utilized a series of multiple schedules randomized across participants to examine differences in the rate of play when participants gambled on their most- and least-preferred machines. In Experiment III, the reinforcing effectiveness of the machines was evaluated. Participants engaged in an arbitrary task to gain access to their highest- and least-preferred machines as indicated in Experiment I. Response effort during the work task was evaluated under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement to determine the degree to which the individual would work to gain access to the machine. Participant break points were compared across the two conditions. Results of Experiment I yielded significant differences in the degree to which participants rated the machines: three-reel machines and those displaying a win were rated significantly higher in the attitude assessment when compared to four- or five-reel machines, and when compared to those with a loss, respectively. During the forced ranking procedure, participants again selected three-reel machines significantly more frequently in their “top five” favorite machines than four- or five-reel options. Last, when subjected to the paired stimulus preference assessment, participants selected three-reel machines on a significantly higher percentage of trials than five-reel alternatives. Results of Experiment II demonstrated that rate of play on high-preference machines is on average, faster than rate of play on lower-preference machines, and results from Experiment III yielded on average, higher break points in participant responding when offered the opportunity to gamble on high-preference slot machines following a response requirement than when offered a low-preference option; however, the average rate of response on the work task that led to machine access was lower during high-preference conditions than low-preference conditions. Implications of these findings for the gambling literature and for the effective prevention and treatment of disordered slot machine gambling are discussed.

Post-reinforcement pause was examined to determine the reinforcing value of a win, loss, and a loss disguised as a win (LDW) for gamblers at multi-line video slot machines. The study was conducted in naturalistic settings across a variety of participants, age 21 years and older. The length of the post-reinforcement pause was recorded using a stopwatch for one win, one loss, and one LDW for each participant and was measured by recording the time between the outcome delivery and the initiation of the next spin. The different times were evaluated to determine which of the three resulted in the longest post-reinforcement pause for the gamblers following the slot machine outcome. The present study replicates and extends previous research on post-reinforcement pause in slot machine gambling, and provides discussion around the clinical utility of such findings on the prevention of problem gambling. Problem gambling is an epidemic, and there are numerous variables that contribute to its development. Post-reinforcement pause is one for those factors, and the present study can help us gain a better understanding of the events that maintain problem gambling and ways to prevent it. The results of the present study found that wins are the most reinforcing to gamblers compared to LDWs and losses, and that LDWs are significantly more reinforcing to gamblers than losses, as indicated by the patterns of the post-reinforcement pause.

Gambling is a popular pastime in the United States, and it is important that we understand the class of behaviors in a behavior analytic context. The relationship between the function and preference of gambling behavior remains yet to be explored. The purpose of these two studies is to examine this relationship. Participants were asked to play a set of four computerized slot machines. Each slot machine was tied to a separated function-based outcome which they could win. In study 1, 80% of participants had a distinct preference for a single outcome. In study 2, the participants were also administered the GFA. Seven participants completed the MSWO. The relationship between the results of the GFA and the results of the free operant preference assessment did not support the hypothesis. Among other results, was data suggesting that those who score 0's on their GFA's may significantly affect the data and that the MSWO and free operant preference assessment have a strong high correlation.

Goal and content of this thesis is market value determination of KIMEX GROUP corporation to the date of 1.1.2008 based on public available documentation and management consultation.

Nya casinon dyker upp allt oftare och spelberoende är ett återkommande ämne i nyheterna. Trots alla nya onlinecasinon finns det inga studier idag som undersöker hur den visuella aspekten av dessa onlinespel påverkar spelarna. Denna studie undersöker hur visuell återkoppling påverkar individernas spelande och risktagande när de spelar på onlinecasinon. För att studera dessa effekter genomfördes en studie på 45 studenter som delades in i två grupper. Båda grupperna blev ombedda att spela en prototyp av en enarmad bandit skapad för denna studie som heter "Casino Slotmachine". En grupp såg en vanlig grå pop-up ruta med resultat, medan den andra gruppen utsattes för animeringar i form av fallande konfetti när de vann och en mer estetiskt tilltalande popup-box i en ljusgul ton med resultat. Under spelet registrerades deltagarnas satsningar per runda, tid per runda samt antalet klick per runda. Varje deltagare spelade 20 rundor av spelet. Efter spelet svarade deltagarna på en enkät om deras spelupplevelse. Resultaten visar att deltagarna som fick visuell återkoppling tog större risker under sessionen än gruppen som inte fick visuell återkoppling. Visuell återkoppling kan därför vara en underliggande faktor till varför vissa spelare i onlinecasinon tar större risker idag. Undersökningen visar också på att de som fick visuell återkoppling blev mindre stressade av spelet än de som inte gjorde det. Både män och kvinnor påverkades på samma sätt av den visuella återkopplingen. / New casinos appear online constantly, and gambling addiction is a recurring subject in the news. Despite all the new online casinos, there are no studies today that investigate how the visual aspect of these online games affects the players. This study examines how visual feedback affects individuals' gambling and risk-taking when gambling on online casinos. To study these effects, a study was conducted on 45 students who were divided into two groups. Both groups were asked to play a prototype of a slot machine created for this study called "Casino Slotmachine". One group saw a regular gray pop-up box displaying net profit, while the other group was exposed to animations in the form of falling confetti when winning, and a more aesthetically pleasing pop-up box in a light yellow tone displaying net profit. During the game, the participants' bet per round, time per round and the amount of clicks per round was recorded. Each participant played 20 rounds of the game. After playing, the participants responded to a survey about their gaming experience. The results show that the participants who received visual feedback took more risks during the session than the group that did not receive visual feedback. Visual feedback can therefore be an underlying factor to why some players in online casinos are taking greater risks today. The survey also shows that those who received visual feedback became less stressed by the game than those who did not. Both men and women were similarly affected by the visual feedback.