Date of Award
8-1-2017
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Behavior Analysis and Therapy
First Advisor
Dixon, Mark
Abstract
Nearly 2% of the population meets the diagnostic criteria for gambling disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The convergence of gambling and digital media has introduced new features to slot machines such as bonuses. Little research exists on the inclusion of bonuses in slot machine play, but early evidence suggests that these features may alter response allocation (Belisle, Owens, Dixon, Malkin, & Jordan, 2017). The current investigation examined two different types of bonuses currently available in slot machines: free spins and choice based bonuses. Using response allocation as the dependent variable, the effects of two types across dense and lean schedules were examined. Results of the two-way repeated measures ANOVA suggest a statistically significant effect of type of bonus, F (1,32) =6.031, p = .026, as well as win density, F (1,32) =8.598, p = .010. Limitations and avenues for further research are discussed.
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