Open Collections

Palmer, Lucas

University of British Columbia

The field of gambling studies is beginning to recognize the need to conduct targeted replications of influential effects throughout the field. Given the limited resources afforded to researchers, we must be systematic in our approach to selecting which effects are most in need of replication. Following a systematic approach to replication selection, a series of conceptual replications of the ‘near-miss effect’ in slot machine gambling was conducted, on online community samples. Near-miss outcomes on a slot machine are those that appear proximal to a win, though they are functionally identical to other losing outcomes (herein termed ‘full misses’). Near-misses have been shown to elicit a range of differential psychological effects compared to full-misses. Experiment 1a and 1b attempted to replicate a previous study by Clark et al. 2009 that 1) near-misses are experienced as more negative, 2) near-misses are rated as more motivating to continue playing a slot machine. Experiment 2 tested the effects on speed of gambling (a replication of Dixon et al. 2013) that near-miss outcomes speed up participant speed of play compared to full miss outcomes. Experiment 3 tested whether near-miss outcomes influence subsequent bet size. I replicated the motivation hypothesis of Clark et el., (2009), but found a significant effect in the opposite direction for the valence hypothesis. Across both study 1a and 1b, near-miss outcomes were more positive relative to full-misses. Experiment 2 replicated the hypothesis that near-miss outcomes increase speed of play (Dixon et al., 2013). Experiment 3 observed near-miss outcomes led to a significant increase in bet size on the subsequent spin relative to full-miss outcomes. I consider how this pattern of results across 3 different dependent variables speak to the different theoretical accounts of how near-misses operate.

Text

2022-08-16

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82373

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/