current trends in slot machine gambling: research and policy issues

Current Trends in Slot Machine Gambling: Research and Policy Issues

Sue F i s h e r

M a r k G r i f f i t h s

University of Plymouth, United Kingdom

This paper introduces a special issue of the Journal of Gambling Studies on slot machine gambling, and overviews some current trends concentrating on research and policy issues. It is demonstrated that throughout the world, research findings have linked slot machines with pathological gambling. Indeed slot machines are now the predominant form of gambling activity by pathological gamblers treated in self help groups and professional treatment centres in numerous countries. This paper briefly examines the research on slot machines and pathological gambling and then goes on more specifically to examine four areas. These are (i) slot machine gambling and youth, (ii) slot machines and arcade video game playing, (iii) the possible developmental link between slot machines and video games and (iv) pathological video game playing.

The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented deregulation of gambling in numerous jurisdictions throughout the world. This has resulted in a vast increase in the supply of gambling which policy makers have endorsed by a number of themes including the societal redefinition of gambling as 'leisure'; the merits of gambling as a pro-

Requests for reprints should be addressed to either Dr. Sue Fisher (Department of Applied Social Sciences) or Dr. Mark Griffiths (Department of Psychology) at the University of Plymouth. Drake Circus, Plymouth, United Kingdom, PL4 8AA.

Journal of Gambling Studies Vol. 11(3), Fall 1995 �9 1995 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 239

240 JOURNAL OF GAMBLING STUDIES

vider of government and charitable revenues; the creation of jobs and stimulation of tourism; and the need to provide gambling at home to stem the flow of gambling expenditures to other jurisdictions. If reve- nue deficits have assumed the role of engine of change, advances in electronic slot machine technology have provided the necessary fuel. The resulting sophistication and proliferation of slot machine gambling has been phenomenal.

Slot machines are fast, aurally and visually stimulating and re- warding, require a low initial stake, provide frequent wins, require no preknowledge to commence play, and may be played alone. They are found by the acre in major casinos where they have all but displaced traditional table games as well as in amusement arcades, cafes, air- ports, bars, restaurants and corner stores. Less regular retail outlets include rest rooms and even the back of taxi cabs (Karp, 1992).

In 1993 it was estimated that Japan has 800,000 slot machines-- about two thirds of the world's total--making it the single largest market for slots in the world (Connor, 1993). In the same year the number of casino machines in the U.S.A. were estimated at not less than 286,000 and those in non casino sites rose by 63% over the previous year (Christiansen, 1994). In 1989 the European Community spent 11 billion DM on slots (1DM--$0.56) (Hand, 1992), a figure likely to have increased in view of the opening up of new gambling markets in Eastern Europe and the expansion of existing ones else- where. A notable case of the success of slot machines in Europe is France, where the industry has grown in six years from nothing to a FF 2.9 billion ($492 million) market. This amounts to roughly 75% of the total French casino win (Doocey, 1994). At the time of writing the U.K. government is proposing to allow the introduction of all cash slot machines in pubs, bingo clubs, betting shops and amusement arcades and to allow an increase in the number of slot machines sited in casinos and clubs.

SLOT MACHINES AND PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING

Throughout the world research findings have linked slot machines with pathological gambling. In the past ten years, slot machines have been the predominant form of gambling by pathological gamblers treated in self help groups and professional treatment centres in Spain,

SUE FISHER AND MARK GRIFFITHS 241

Germany and Holland (Becona, 1994). In the U.S.A. Volberg and Steadman (1992) found that 72% of their high income and 77% of their low income pathological gamblers, drawn from five states, played slot machines. In the U.K., slot (fruit) machines are associated with probable pathological gambling in children (Fisher, 1993, 1995a).

Clearly decisions to play slot machines and to continue playing them to excess are contingent upon the player's biological and psychological constitution and situational variables. However, structural characteristics of slot machines which are designed to induce the player to play and/or to continue playing are likely to play an important role. Such characteristics include frequent pay out and event intervals, arousing near miss and symbol proportions, multiplier potential, bet- tor involvement and skill, exciting light and sound effects, and significant naming (see Griffiths, 1993a for a comprehensive overview).

SLOT MACHINE GAMBLING AND Y O U T H

Most research on slot machine gambling in youth has been under- taken in the U.K. where slot 'fruit machines' are legally available to children of any age. An examination of the literature indicates that at least 65% of adolescents play fruit machines at some point during adolescence, that around 35% of adolescents have played fruit machines in the last month and that around 5-10% of adolescents are regular fruit machine players, i.e. playing at least once a week (Griffiths, 1991a, b). Fisher's (t995a) report of slot machine gambling among 954 adolescents residing in a seaside town (where the supply to youth is the greatest) reveals that between 18% and 21% of 11 to 16 year olds played at least once a week and that 7 % fell into the probable pathological gambling range of DSM-IV-J. These findings replicate those of an earlier study on a smaller, but otherwise similar, sample (Fisher, 1992, 1993).

Fisher's findings on pathological slot machine gambling among the youth also replicate the supernormal prevalence rates found in different parts of the world, by different authors and among different people groups. Some examples from the United States include: New Jersey 6% (Lesieur & Klein, 1987); North Minnesota American In- dians (9.6 %) (Zitzow, 1992); Massachusetts (6.2 %) (Shaffer, LaBrie, Scanlon, & Cummings, 1993). Jacobs (1989) reports that, in the


U.S.A., where the youth have access to casinos and can pass for being over the legal age threshold, slot machine gambling is the favourite gamble.

The consequences of pathological slot (fruit) machine playing in youth mirror those observed in adults while reflecting situational characteristics of youth. They include truancy, stealing, trouble with par- ents and/or teachers, borrowing money, using of lunch money, irri- tability and poor schoolwork (Fisher, 1993, 1995a; Griffiths, 1990).

Studies in Spain, Germany and Holland report that at least half of pathological slot machine players are in the younger age g r o u p - 18 to 30 years (Becona, 1994, May-June). In Holland, the Dutch Parlia- ment's Lower House called for a ban on all machines from snack bars, sports clubs and neighbourhood centres to bring a halt to underage gambling. If this ban becomes law it will result in the removal of almost half of the 64,000 machines found in the Netherlands (Geller, 1994). Reports in this special issue of the Journal of Gambling Studies by Becona and Fabian of slot machine gambling in Spain and Germany provide national case studies which report on these themes.

SLOT MACHINES AND ARCADE VIDEO GAME PLAYING

There is a growing body of research which suggests that arcade video games share some common ground with slot (gambling) machines including the potential for dependency (Brown & Robertson, 1992; Griffiths, 1991a, 1993b; Fisher, 1994). Arcade video games and slot machines share some important structural characteristics:.

�9 The requirement of response to stimuli which are predictable and governed by the software loop.

�9 The requirement of total concentration and hand and eye coordination.

�9 Rapid span of play negotiable to some extent by the skill of the player (more marked in video games).

�9 The provision of aural and visual rewards for a winning move (e.g. flashing lights, electronic jingles).

�9 The provision of an incremental reward for a winning move (points or cash) which reinforce 'correct' behaviour.


�9 Digitally displayed scores of 'correct behaviour' (in the form of points or cash accumulated).

�9 The opportunity for peer group attention and approval through competition.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that aural and visual stimulation is particularly important. Sound effects have been used on fruit machines to give the impression that winning is more common than losing (e.g. sound of falling coins onto the machine's metal tray or machines which buzz loudly or play a musical tune after a win). Since there are usually several slot machines in one venue, this illusion is magnified. Sound effects are a vital component of video games and provide a sense of realism and drama. Apparently, playing a popular game like Tetris with the sound off, is a greatly diminished experience and players report the game as being less tense and/or exciting.

Pulsating sound in which the pitch of the sound rises and the tempo becomes faster features in both video and slot (gambling) machines. An example of this can be found on fruit machines after the "gamble" button comes into operation. At this point, a cycle of two notes rather like a mini-siren begins which tells the player a decision must be made (to either take the winnings or attempt to gamble it up to a higher win). If the player takes the winnings, the sound stops. However, if the player gambles successfully, the sound increases speed and pitch and again the player faces the decision to take the winnings or gamble. As the prize on offer increases so does the sound's speed and pitch. This appears to increase the tension and also tends to make players react more quickly towards the machine. This particular utili- zation of sound has been termed "perceived urgency" (Edworthy, Loxley & Dennis, 1991).

According to White (1989), the flashing lights and sound effects of gaming machines give a constant impression of fun and activity. In addition they could be viewed as inducers and in some people may actually stimulate further playing. In a study by Griffiths (1990), 30% of the 50 adolescent gamblers he interviewed claimed that the aura of the fruit machine was one of the machine's most attractive features. It was also reported that those diagnosed as pathological gamblers according to DSM-I I I -R criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) were significantly more attracted to the aura of the machines


than the non-pathological gamblers. Such an observation may also apply to video game machines.

To date there has been little research into the differential effects of colour stimulation on gaming behaviour in ecologically valid settings, e.g. the role of colour in gaming machines; visual displays. However, graphics appear to be an important component in the playing of video games with many children stating that good colours and graphics improve the playability of the game (Griffiths & Hunt, 1993, December).

SLOT MACHINES AND VIDEO GAMES: A D E V E L O P M E N T A L L I N K ?

It has been suggested by a number of authors (e.g. Brown, 1989; Griffiths, 1991a; Fisher, 1993) that video game playing may be a pre- cursor to slot (fruit) machine playing. Griffiths (1991a) expanded on Brown's (1989) model of a pathology of man-machine relationships and like Brown argued that it could be that addicted fruit machine players were previously video game addicts and possibly go on to be pathological gamblers. In chronological terms, the child may invest an abnor- mal amount of time watching television because of parent and/or peer deprivation becoming a continuous passive observer. At some later stage, the child/adolescent may discover television has an active me- dium, that is, the playing of video games in which the child is psycho- logically rewarded through interaction and decision making via the television screen. At the next stage, discovery of slot (gambling) machines is made (probably as an adolescent in the UK and as an adult in other countries). At this stage, the rewards during the man-machine interaction are both psychological and financial (i.e. the player has the chance to win money). It is in this final stage that the player may become a pathological gambler when s/he discovers that other forms of gambling (e.g. horse race betting, card playing, casino gambling or even gambling on the stock market) have psychological and financial rewards but also require a greater level of skill than slot machine playing.

Although predictions from this type of model are hard to test, retrospective questionnaire and interview studies may reveal that video game or fruit machine addicts were once constant television viewers or


that pathological horse race gamblers were once addicted to playing fruit machines. Given the phenomenal expansion and societal accep- tance of computer games, arcade video games and slot machines (as well as other gambling forms) empirical studies to test the predictive strength of this model would be very useful.

P A T H O L O G I C A L V I D E O GAME PL A Y IN G

Pursuing the hypothesis that in some cases arcade video gaming resembles a gambling addiction, Brown and Robertson (1990) at- tempted to measure addiction to video gaming in a sample of 45 Scottish schoolchildren using selected items for the Twenty Questions used by Gamblers Anonymous. They found a high and significant correlation between arcade video game addiction thus defined and the proportion of income spent on playing. Fisher (1994) explored the same hypothesis by attempting to measure the prevalence of'pathological' arcade video game playing among a sample of 467 11 to 16 year olds in the U.K. , using an adaptation of the DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling. She found that the scale had acceptable internal consistency reliability and factorial validity and was significantly re- lated to alternative means of assessing excessive video game play such as frequency of play, amount spent and self perception of a problem. Fisher concluded that, since the scale components were based on those used to identify pathological gambling, video game playing in some cases is a behaviour which resembles pathological gambling.

In the U.K. , initial comparisons suggest that players of slot (fruit) machines and video machines are demographically similar with adolescent males playing most regularly (Griffiths, 1991a). The age of initial play is around 8 to 10 years of age and it has been established that the younger a child begins to play the machines, the more likely they are to experience problems (Griffiths, 1990; Griffiths & Hunt, 1993). Chil- dren and young people who are regular visitors to arcades (once a week or more) are significantly more likely to experience problems with fruit machine and video game addiction than casual users (Fisher, 1995b). Further to this, negative behaviours are associated with both forms of excessive playing, e.g. stealing, truancy, using lunch money etc. (Griffiths, 1991a).

246 J O U R N A L OF G A M B L I N G S T U D I E S

The papers by Abbott, Palmisano, and Dickerson, and Fisher, in this issue of the Journal of Gambling Studies, address some of the meth- odological challenges of identifying and measuring gambling and video game addiction and the importance of developmental work in this area. A brief report by Griffiths proposes a risk factor model of slot machine addiction which may be useful in targetting education programmes.

Finally, Aasved and Schaefer claim that pull tab gambling is similar to slot machine gambling. Their obversational study on "Min- nesota Slots" provides a fascinating picture of playing patterns and ettiquette, types of players, dealer/player relationships and excessive play. Their contribution to this issue of the Journal of Gambling Studies highlights the merit of the observational study in enriching our under- standing of gambling behaviour.

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current trends in slot machine gambling: research and policy issues

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