The Learning Approach

LEARNING EXPLANATIONS OF GAMBLING

• Initiation
• operant conditioning
• gambling slot machines cna become addictive because of the physiological, psychological, social and financial rewards.
• gamblers not always rational with their thinking and greater weight can be given to the experience of winning
• Maintenance
• Intermittent Reinforcement
• People continue to gamble because of the intermittent reinforcement that is characteristic of most types of gambling. get used to long periods with no rewards.
• Social Approval
• peers and family members of problem gamblers more likely to approve; continued more so than other respondents.
• Relapse
• Conditioned Cues
• Addicts associate other stimuli with their gambling behaviour. these act as triggers. coming into contact with these cues will trigger relapse.
• Approach-Avoidance Conflict
• gambling has both positive and negative consequences, therefore motivated to approach and to avoid situations where gambling is involved. motivation therefore fluctuates between wanting to gamble and wanting to stop. 

EVALUATION

• Can't explain all forms of gambling
• some forms of gambling have a short lived period between behaviour and consequence; others have a much longer period between bet and outcome, less to do with chance and more to do with skill.
• Different Pathways
• Different pathways for gambling that predict the likelihood of treatment being successful.
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