scholarly journals Electrophysiological investigation of reward anticipation and outcome evaluation during slot machine play

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
SL Fryer ◽  
BJ Roach ◽  
CB Holroyd ◽  
MP Paulus ◽  
K Sargent ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Stage ◽  
Slot Machine ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Near Miss ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Reward Anticipation

ABSTRACTSlot machines are a popular form of gambling, offering a tractable way to experimentally model reward processes. This study used a 3-reel slot paradigm to assess psychologically distinct phases of reward processing, reflecting anticipation, and early and late-stage outcome processing. EEG measures of winning, nearly missing (a losing outcome revealed at the final, third reel), and “totally” missing (a losing outcome revealed earlier, at the second reel) were collected from healthy adults (n=54). Condition effects were evaluated in: i) event-related potential (ERP) components reflecting anticipatory attention (stimulus preceding negativity, SPN) and outcome processing (reward positivity, RewP and late-positive potential, LPP) and ii) total power and phase synchrony of theta and delta band oscillations. Behaviorally, trial initiation was fastest after a near miss outcome and slowest after a winning outcome. As expected, a significant SPN was observed for possible wins (AA) vs. total misses (AB), consistent with reward anticipation. In addition, significantly larger win (AAA) vs. near miss (AAB) amplitudes were observed for the RewP and LPP to wins and LPP to near misses (vs. total misses) reflecting early and late-stage outcome processing effects. There was an effect of reel position on the RewP, with larger effects in the final reel (AAA-AAB) relative to the 2nd-reel locked difference waves (AA-AB). Across all outcomes, near misses elicited the largest and most phase-synchronized theta responses, while wins elicited larger and more phase-synchronized delta responses than total misses, with near misses not differing from wins or total misses. Phase locking measures contrasting win vs. near miss delta and theta synchronization, within time windows corresponding to ERP measurements, covaried with RewP, but not SPN or LPP, amplitude. Lastly, EEG measures showed differential relationships with age and self-reported consummatory pleasure. In the context of slot machine play, where reward anticipation and attainment place minimal demands on effort and skill, ERP and time-frequency methods capture distinct neurophysiological signatures of reward anticipation and outcome processing.

scholarly journals The Near-Miss Effect in Slot Machines: A Review and Experimental Analysis Over Half a Century Later

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 611-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Pisklak ◽  
Joshua J. H. Yong ◽  
Marcia L. Spetch
Keyword(s):  
Near Miss ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
Operant Response ◽  
Extinction Procedure ◽  
Conditional Response ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Resistance To Extinction ◽  
Effect Hypothesis ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Simplified Procedure

Abstract In games of chance, a near miss is said to occur when feedback for a loss approximates a win. For instance, obtaining “cherry–cherry–lemon” on a slot machine could be considered a near miss. Sixty-six years ago, B.F. Skinner first proposed the idea that near-miss events might reinforce continued play in slot machines, and despite some inconsistencies in the experimental literature, belief in this “near-miss effect” has remained strong. In the present manuscript, we will review this literature and present experimental assessments of the near-miss effect on the frequency of the gambling response. Experiment 1 used a tightly controlled resistance-to-extinction procedure in pigeons to evaluate the putative reinforcing effect of near misses relative to a control “far-miss” reel pattern. Experiment 2 extended Experiment 1’s procedure to human participants. The results of both experiments failed to support the near-miss effect hypothesis. Experiment 3 used a further simplified procedure to assess the validity of the resistance-to-extinction paradigm when a probable conditional reinforcer was present on the reel stimuli. Although a clear conditional response was obtained from the reel, subsequent testing in extinction revealed no conditionally reinforcing function of this stimulus on operant response frequency.

scholarly journals Alpha Event-related Desynchronization During Reward Processing in Schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias F Marton ◽  
Brian Roach ◽  
Clay B Holroyd ◽  
Judith M Ford ◽  
John McQuaid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Slot Machine ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Near Miss ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Event Related Desynchronization ◽  
Outcome Valence

Background: Deficits in the way the brain processes rewards may contribute to negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Synchronization of alpha band neural oscillations is a dominant EEG signal when people are awake, but at rest. In contrast, alpha desynchronization to salient events is thought to direct allocation of information processing resources away from the internal state, to process salient stimuli in the external environment. Here, we hypothesize that alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) during reward processing is altered in schizophrenia, leading to less difference in alpha ERD magnitude between winning and losing outcomes. Methods: EEG was recorded while participants (patients with schizophrenia (SZ)=54; healthy controls (HC) = 54) completed a casino-style slot machine gambling task. Total power, a measure of neural oscillation magnitude was measured in the alpha frequency range (8-14 Hz), time-locked to reward delivery, extracted via principal components analysis, and then compared between groups and equiprobable win and near miss loss reward outcomes. Associations between alpha power and negative symptoms and trait rumination were examined. Results: A significant Group X Reward Outcome interaction (p=.018) was explained by differences within the HC group, driven by significant posterior-occipital alpha desynchronization to wins, relative to near miss losses (p<.001). In contrast, SZ did not modulate alpha power to wins vs. near miss losses (p>.1), nor did alpha power relate to negative symptoms (p>.1). However, across all participants, less alpha ERD to reward outcomes was related to more trait rumination, for both wins (p=.005) and near-miss losses (p=.002), with no group differences observed in the slopes of these relationships. Conclusion: These findings suggest that event-related modulation of alpha power is altered in schizophrenia during reward outcome processing, even when reward attainment places minimal demands on higher-order cognitive processes during slot machine play. In addition, high trait rumination is associated with less event-related desynchronization to reward feedback, suggesting that rumination covaries with less external attentional allocation to reward processing, regardless of reward outcome valence and group membership.

scholarly journals Reward processing electrophysiology in schizophrenia: Effects of age and illness phase

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha V. Abram ◽  
Brian J. Roach ◽  
CB Holroyd ◽  
MP Paulus ◽  
Judith M. Ford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Slot Machine ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Reward Anticipation ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Brain Age ◽  
Illness Phase ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractBackgroundReward processing abnormalities may underlie characteristic pleasure and motivational impairments in schizophrenia. Some neural measures of reward processing show strong age-related modulation, highlighting the importance of considering age effects on reward sensitivity. We compared event-related potentials (ERPs) reflecting reward anticipation (stimulus-preceding negativity, SPN) and evaluation (reward positivity, RewP; late-positive potential, LPP) across individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy controls (HC), with an emphasis on examining effects of chronological age, brain age (i.e., predicted age based on neurobiological measures), and illness phase.MethodsSubjects underwent EEG while completing a slot-machine task for which rewards were not dependent on performance accuracy, speed, or other preparatory demands. Slot-machine task EEG responses were compared between 54 SZ and 54 HC individuals, ages 19 to 65. Reward-related ERPs were analyzed with respect to chronological age, categorically-defined illness phase (early; ESZ versus chronic schizophrenia; CSZ), and were used to model brain age relative to chronological age.ResultsIllness phase-focused analyses indicated there were no group differences in average SPN or RewP amplitudes. However, a group x reward outcome interaction revealed that ESZ differed from HC in later outcome processing, reflected by greater LPP responses following loss versus reward (a reversal of the HC pattern). While brain age estimates did not differ among groups, depressive symptoms in SZ were associated with older brain age estimates while controlling for negative symptoms.ConclusionsESZ and CSZ did not differ from HC in reward anticipation or early outcome processing during a cognitively undemanding reward task, highlighting areas of preserved functioning. However, ESZ showed altered later reward outcome evaluation, pointing to selective reward deficits during the early illness phase of schizophrenia. Further, an association between ERP-derived brain age and depressive symptoms in SZ extends prior findings linking depression with reward-related ERP blunting. Taken together, both illness phase and age may impact reward processing in SZ, and brain aging may offer a promising, novel marker of reward dysfunction that warrants further study.

scholarly journals The Near-Miss Effect in Slot Machines: Over Half a Century Later

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Matthew Pisklak ◽  
Joshua Jyh Horng Yong ◽  
Marcia L Spetch
Keyword(s):  
Near Miss ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
Extinction Procedure ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Resistance To Extinction ◽  
Discriminative Function ◽  
Extended Experiment ◽  
Effect Hypothesis ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Simplified Procedure

In games of chance, a near miss is said to occur when feedback for what is otherwise a loss approximates a win. For instance, obtaining “cherry-cherry-lemon” on a slot machine could be considered a near miss. Sixty-six years after B. F. Skinner first proposed the idea that near-miss events might be reinforcing continued play in slot machines, belief in this ‘near-miss effect’ has remained strong despite the troublesome experimental literature. The present study reviewed and experimentally assessed the near-miss effect as it pertains to the frequency of the gambling response. Experiment 1 used a tightly controlled resistance-to-extinction procedure in pigeons to evaluate the putative reinforcing effect of near misses relative to a control “far-miss” reel pattern. Experiment 2 extended Experiment 1’s procedure to human participants. The results of both experiments failed to support the near-miss effect hypothesis. Experiment 3 used a further simplified procedure to assess the validity of the resistance-to-extinction paradigm when a probable conditional reinforcer was present on the reel stimuli. Although a clear discriminative function was obtained from the reel, subsequent testing in extinction revealed no reinforcing function of this stimulus.

scholarly journals PAR Sheets, probabilities, and slot machine play: Implications for problem and non-problem gambling

2009 ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin A. Harrigan ◽  
Mike Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Slot Machine ◽  
Slot Machines ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Reinforcement Schedules ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Privacy Act ◽  
Design Documents ◽  
Machine Games

Through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, we obtained design documents, called PAR Sheets, for slot machine games that are in use in Ontario, Canada. From our analysis of these PAR Sheets and observations from playing and watching others play these games, we report on the design of the structural characteristics of Ontario slots and their implications for problem gambling. We discuss characteristics such as speed of play, stop buttons, bonus modes, hand-pays, nudges, near misses, how some wins are in fact losses, and how two identical looking slot machines can have very different payback percentages. We then discuss how these characteristics can lead to multi-level reinforcement schedules (different reinforcement schedules for frequent and infrequent gamblers playing the same game) and how they may provide an illusion of control and contribute in other ways to irrational thinking, all of which are known risk factors for problem gambling.

Comparison of wavelet continuous transform and signal averaged ECG for high frequency content and late potential detection in healthy individuals

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
D Garcia Iglesias ◽  
J.M Rubin Lopez ◽  
D Perez Diez ◽  
C Moris De La Tassa ◽  
F.J De Cos Juez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Classical Method ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Frequency Content ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Qt Intervals ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Power Content ◽  
High Frequency Content

Abstract Introduction The Signal Averaged ECG (SAECG) is a classical method forSudden Cardiac Death (SCD) risk assessment, by means of Late Potentials (LP) in the filtered QRS (fQRS)[1]. But it is highly dependent on noise and require long time records, which make it tedious to use. Wavelet Continuous Transform (WCT) meanwhile is easier to use, and may let us to measure the High Frequency Content (HFC) of the QRS and QT intervals, which also correlates with the risk of SCD [2,3]. Whether the HFC of the QRS and QT measured with the WCT is a possible subrogate of LP, has never been demonstrated. Objective To demonstrate if there is any relationship between the HFC measured with the WCT and the LP analyzed with the SAECG. Methods Data from 50 consecutive healthy individuals. The standard ECG was digitally collected for 3 consecutive minutes. For the WCT Analysis 8 consecutive QT complexes were used and for the SAECG Analysis all available QRS were used. The time-frequency data of each QT complex were collected using the WCT as previously described [3] and the Total, QRS and QT power were obtained from each patient. For the SAECG, bipolar X, Y and Z leads were used with a bidirectional filter at 40 to 250 Hz [1]. LP were defined as less than 0.05 z in the terminal part of the filtered QRS and the duration (SAECG LP duration) and root mean square (SAECG LP Content) of this LP were calculated. Pearson's test was used to correlate the Power content with WCT analysis and the LP in the SAECG. Results There is a strong correlation between Total Power and the SAECG LP content (r=0.621, p&lt;0.001). Both ST Power (r=0.567, p&lt;0.001) and QRS Power (r=0.404, p=0.004) are related with the SAECG LP content. No correlation were found between the Power content (Total, QRS or ST Power) and the SAECG LP duration. Also no correlation was found between de SAECG LP content and duration. Conclusions Total, QRS and ST Power measured with the WCT are good surrogates of SAECG LP content. No correlation were found between WCT analysis and the SAECG LP duration. Also no correlation was found between the SAECG LP content and duration. This can be of high interest, since WCT is an easier technique, not needing long recordings and being less affected by noise. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

scholarly journals Public Roads as Places of Interspecies Conflict: A Study of Horse-Human Interactions on UK Roads and Impacts on Equine Exercise

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1072
Author(s):  
Danica Pollard ◽  
Tamzin Furtado
Keyword(s):  
Near Miss ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Emotional Management ◽  
The Road ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Road Users ◽  
Conflict Risk ◽  
The Individual

Real or perceived traffic risk is a significant barrier to walking and cycling. To understand whether similar barriers influence equestrians, this study obtained exercise behaviours, road use and experiences of road-related incidents from UK equestrians (n = 6390) via an online questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with road use and experiencing a near-miss or injury-causing incident in the previous year. Content analysis identified themes around equestrians’ decisions not to use roads. Our results show that most equestrians (84%) use roads at least once weekly, and in the previous year, 67.7% had a near-miss and 6.1% an injury-causing incident. Road use differs regionally, with exercise type and off-road route availability. Road-using equestrians covered greater daily distances and were younger. However, younger equestrians were at higher risk of near-misses. Respondents’ decisions not to use roads were based on individualised risk assessments arising from: the road itself, perceptions of other road users, the individual horse and the handler’s own emotional management. Roads were perceived as extremely dangerous places with potentially high conflict risk. Injury-causing incidents were associated with increasing road-use anxiety or ceasing to use roads, the proximity of off-road routes, having a near-miss and type of road use. Targeted road-safety campaigns and improved off-road access would create safer equestrian spaces.

scholarly journals A Generalized Structural Equation Model Approach to Long Working Hours and Near-Misses among Healthcare Professionals in Japan

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 7154
Author(s):  
Tatsuhiko Anzai ◽  
Takashi Yamauchi ◽  
Masaki Ozawa ◽  
Kunihiko Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Near Miss ◽  
Long Working Hours ◽  
Near Misses ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Job Related Stress

(1) Background: Near-miss incidents are the foundation of major injuries. They are warning signs that loss is imminent. Long working hours are a risk factor for near-misses along with sleep problems, job-related stress, and depressive symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the indirect effects of long working hours via mediating variables on near-miss occurrences among Japanese healthcare professionals. (2) Methods: 1490 Japanese healthcare professionals’ reports from a web-based survey of workers in October 2018 were analyzed to evaluate total, direct, and indirect effects of long working hours on near-misses. We applied a generalized structural equation model with three mediating variables: sleep problems, job-related stress, and depressive symptoms. (3) Results: The total effect and direct effect of the categories of working hours longer than 41 h per week (h/w) for occurrence of near-misses were not significantly higher than that of 35–40 h/w. However, for indirect effects on occurrence of near-misses that first passed through job-related stress, there were higher reports for each category compared to 35–40 h/w, with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of OR = 1.12, 95% CI (1.07, 1.21) for 41–50 h/w; 1.25, (1.14, 1.41) for 51–60 h/w; and 1.31, (1.18, 1.51) for ≥ 61 h/w. (4) Conclusion: The results suggest that reducing working hours might improve job-related stress, which could reduce near-misses and prevent injuries.

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