Learning theory

• Positive reinforment

  -behaviour produces a desirable consequence which strengthens and maintains gambling behaviour.

  -Applied to gambling addiction: individuals gamble and when they win it results in a positive consequence like money, attention and adrenaline.
• Negative reinforcement

  -behaviour produces a consequence that removes or prevents something undesirable. Applied to gambling: gambling removes feelings of boredom, stress or anxiety. This strengthens and maintains behaviour.
• Schedule of reinforcement 


  how frequently a behaviour is been reinforced.
• Continuous reinforcement schedule


  -rewards every desired response from animal, does not lead to the most persistent behaviour.

  -When rewards stop so does desired behaviour which leads to extinction.
• Partial reinforcement schedule


  -reward is not provided every time so does create persistent behaviour like gambling as some bets are rewarded so the unpredictability of gambling means gamblers will keep gambling as they think they will win some time soon so are persistent.
• fixed ratio schedule 


  • reinforcement occurs after a fixed numbers of responses. e.g. losing license after five violations.
• Variable ratio schedule


  • Reinforcement occurs after a varying number of responses. e.g. playing the lottery.
• fixed individual schedule 


  • an exact amount of time passes between each reinforcement. e.g. getting your pay check every to weeks
• Variable interval schedule 


  A varying amount of time passes between each reinforcement.
• Cue reactivity 


  • cues are environmental stimuli that are present around the time of winning or gambling.
  • through CC cues become associated with the rewarding response.
  • Cues are secondary reinforcers as they have become associated with reinforcing effect on primary reinforcer (winning).
  • exposure to cues (like atmosphere of betting shop) can trigger same response as the unconditioned stimulus which creates relapse.
• Evaluation - Practical application (strength)


  • treatments like aversion therapy and covert sensitisation are derived from the learning theory. Treatment is shown to be effective.
• Evaluation - weaknesses


  -can be argued OC doesn't explain why people continue to gamble when they lose more often than they win. They are punished when losing so less likely to gamble. However, the magnitude of the losses is less obvious than magnitude of wins.

  -Learning theory can only explain some types of gambling. Only explain gambling addiction in games where there is no delay like fruit machines. Sport betting and lottery are harder to explain as the reward is later so the conditioning should be less effective.