Eye on the Prize: High-Risk Gamblers Show Sustained Selective Attention to Gambling Cues
Open accessAbstract
Disordered gambling is characterized by persistent and problematic gambling, leading to impairment or distress, which may be exacerbated by vigilance to gambling cues in the environment. Yet, questions regarding the specific attentional biases present in gamblers remain unresolved. In the current study, we used a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm to examine attentional orienting and maintenance/disengagement for gambling stimuli, relative to emotional and neutral stimuli, in high- and low-risk gamblers (N = 57). High-risk gamblers showed attentional biases for gambling stimuli, relative to other distractors, and these biases were observed at the level of attentional maintenance/disengagement. Low-risk gamblers showed some evidence of non-specific attentional biases (to negative and gambling pictures). Low-risk, but not high-risk, gamblers demonstrated sustained biases for negative items and facilitated disengagement from positive items. Findings highlight differences in attentional processes between high- and low-risk gamblers and point to sustained biases as worthy targets for clinical interventions. Future work should assess the malleability of gambling biases in high-risk gamblers and determine whether altering attention to gambling items influences gambling behaviour.Le jeu compulsif est caractérisé par des comportements liés au jeu qui sont problématiques et persistants, et qui entraînent une détresse ou une incapacité à fonctionner pouvant être exacerbées par l’attention accordée aux signaux associés au jeu dans l’environnement. Pourtant, les questions relatives à la présence d’un biais attentionnel spécifique chez les joueurs demeurent sans réponses. La présente étude a utilisé un modèle de présentation visuelle sérielle rapide (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation [RSVP]) afin d’examiner l’orientation de l’attention et le maintien ou le décrochage de celle-ci en présence de stimuli liés au jeu par rapport à des stimuli neutres et chargés émotivement chez des joueurs à faible risque et à haut risque (N = 57). Un biais attentionnel pour les stimuli liés au jeu pouvant aller jusqu’au maintien ou au décrochage de l’attention a été observé chez les joueurs à haut risque, par rapport aux autres éléments de distraction. Les données sur les joueurs à faible risque indiquent quant à elles la présence d’un biais attentionnel non spécifique (pour les images de jeu et négatives). Un biais attentionnel soutenu pour les éléments négatifs facilitant le décrochage de l’attention à des éléments positifs a été observé chez les joueurs à faible risque, mais non chez ceux à haut risque. Les résultats de l’étude mettent d’une part en évidence les différences entre le processus attentionnel des joueurs à haut risque et celui des joueurs à faible risque, et indiquent d’autre part que les biais attentionnels soutenus peuvent constituer les cibles d’intervention cliniques efficaces. Une prochaine étude devra évaluer la malléabilité du biais attentionnel pour le jeu des joueurs à haut risque et déterminer si une modification de l’attention accordée aux éléments liés au jeu peut influencer les comportements associés au jeu.
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Gamblers display greater attentional bias and fixate their gaze for longer on gambling-related cues.
“Gambling environments are robustly full of cues, such as flashing lights and sounds (Griffiths, 1993; Noseworthy & Finlay, 2009; Parke & Griffiths, 2006), and gamblers have been shown to display greater attentional bias and fixate their gaze for longer on gambling-related cues (Hudson, Olatunji, Gough, Yi, & Stewart, 2016; McGrath, Meitner, & Sears, 2018).”
From Cued for Risk: Evidence for an Incentive Sensitization Framework to Explain the Interplay between Stress and Anxiety, Substance Abuse, and Reward Uncertainty in Disordered Gambling Behavior (2019) · cites this paper as Hudson, Olatunji, Gough, Yi, & Stewart, 2016
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- Authors
- Hudson, A., Olatunji, B. O., Gough, K., Yi, S., & Stewart, S. H.
- Affiliations
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- University of Guelph (CA)
- Venue
- Journal of Gambling Issues
- Publisher
- Concurrent Disorders Society Press
- Published
- 2017-08-01
- Issue
- 34
- ISSN
- 1910-7595 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2560705272
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 2.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nd
- Locations
- Journal of Gambling Issues (publishedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- attentional bias, gambling cues, attentional orienting, attentional disengagement, sustained attention, emotional stimuli, rapid serial visual presentation, attentional bias modification, gambling addiction, negative stimuli, positive stimuli, attentional capture
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