psychology

Of rats and machine players

Can people control their behavior? Or, as the Smashing Pumpkins might say, in spite of all our rage, we’re still just rats in a cage? This piece in the Columbian gives a shot at figuring it out, and even quotes your illustrious blogger: Gambling is an example of variable or intermittent reinforcement. A gambler learns […]

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gambling & culture, news about gambling

Monkeys and money

I thought this was an interesting story. Monkeys don’t have much use for money, but since they like marshmallows, they are up for experiments like this one. From Psychology Today: Keith Chen and Marc Hauser at Yale University taught monkeys about resources that bear a strong resemblance to money. Monkeys dont care about money, per

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gambling & culture

Sublibellous advertising

There are lots of things the media can get away with, but some things it can’t. You can’t impugn a strip steak if you’ve eaten a steak sandwich, for one. And you can’t claim that subliminal messages in slot machines affect player behavior. At least that what Konami hopes. Here’s the press release: An item

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gambling & culture

Sgt. Fritter’s Lonely Jackpot Banned?

Earlier this week, the CBC broke a disturbing story: three Konami video slots are briefly flashing winning combinations as players spin the virtual reels. Programming bug or subliminal ploy? You be the judge. From CBC: Ontario’s provincial gambling operator has pulled 87 video slot machines out of service or physically removed them from its casinos

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news about gambling