Brief Report

Pathological Gambling: Possible Treatment Using an Audio Playback Technique

Readers of the Journal of Gambling Studies may be interested in a possible treatment technique for problem gamblers. I have carried out research into fruit machine addiction for the past five years and in one particular study a few years ago (Griffiths, 1990a), I analyzed the cognitive biases involved in fruit machine playing using the "thinking aloud method" (Ericcson & Simon, 1980; 1984). This basically consis- ted of gamblers verbalizing every thought that passed through their mind while they were playing the machine. These verbalizations were tape recorded and results showed that regular gamblers produced significantly more irrational verbalizations than non-regular gamblers i.e. regular gamblers personified the machine (talking to it, swearing at it and giving it human characteristics), explained away losses by blam- ing external factors and claimed wins were produced by their own skill. Below is an edited example with my comments in italics:

"This ' f rui ty ' (the frui t machine) is not in a good m o o d . . . O h my, come on,

P L E A S E give m e an ' o range ' (talking to the machine) . . . Wel l done! (congratulating

the machine for giving him an 'orange') . . . D i d you see tha t? T h e m a c h i n e sna t ched

the w i n - - b a s t a r d m a c h i n e . . . it's rea l ly l a u g h i n g at m e here (the machine that

i s ) . . . C a n I w in m o r e t h a n 10p this t ime? . . . N O ! ! . . . O b v i o u s l y the

m a c h i n e is b e i n g a b i t of a b a s t a r d at the m o m e n t ! "

Send reprint requests to Mark Griffiths, Psychology Department, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, United Kingdom.

Journal of Gambling Studies Vol. 9(3), Fall 1993 �9 1993 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 295

296 J O U R N A L O F G A M B L I N G S T U D I E S

After each subject was run, they were asked if they would like to hear the playback of their recording. Only four gamblers (out of thirty) wished to do so. To my surprise they all commented on how they could not believe what they had said and how they were thinking while gambling. None of these individuals was followed up formally, how- ever, I recently met one of them by accident while out socially. This particular subject was a 19 year old male at the time of the initial study and was diagnosed as a pathological gambler according to the DSM- II IR criteria for pathological gambling (American Psychiatric Associa- tion, 1987). He had already attended Gamblers Anonymous before participating in my experiment but dropped out shortly after joining because he felt he did not fit into the group. In the conversation that followed with my ex-subject, it transpired that since taking part in my study his gambling behaviour had declined and subsequently ceased. He claimed that a large factor in the cessation of his gambling was hearing the playback of his recording. He claimed he could still re- member some of the things he heard on the tape but reiterated his disbelief at what he had verbalized. He further claimed it was this disbelief that prompted him to examine and monitor his behaviour more closely. Through this self introspective process he claimed he realized the futility of his gambling and eventually stopped playing. Although I have no direct confirmation that he was telling the truth, I have no reason to believe he was lying.

I have previously argued (Griffiths, 1990b) that knowledge of an irrational gambling bias may help in rehabilitating gamblers through behaviour modification. The method used in my research study (i.e. the thinking aloud method) might be the best way to inhibit irrational gambling bias by using the audio playback as a treatment tool. How- ever, this is not to say that other modes of treatment could not be used concurrently. It should also be remembered that although this tech- nique involved fruit machine gamblers, there is no reason why this should not be extended to other forms of gambling addiction especially when the possible therapeutic implications are considered.

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (3rd Edition). Washing- ton D,C. : Author.

Ericcson, K.A. & Simon, H.A. (1980). Verbal reports as data. Psychological Review, 3, 215-251.

M A R K G R I F F I T H S 297

Ericcson, K.A. & Simon, H.A. (1984). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Griffiths, M.D. (1990a). The role of cognitive bias and skill in fruit machine gambling. In S.E.G. Lea, P. Webley & B. Young (Eds.). Applied Economic Psychology in the 1990's (Vol. 1), (pp. 228- 253). Exeter: Washington Singer Press.

Griffiths, M.D. (1990b). The cognitive psychology of gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 6, 31-42.

Mark Griffiths, Ph.D. Psychology Department University of Plymouth, U.K.