Attentional bias and addictive behaviour: automaticity in a gambling-specific modified Stroop task

This study examined the relationship between attention and gambling behaviour by measuring the level of Stroop interference towards gambling-related words in a group of regular poker machine players.

A 3 x 2 repeated measures experimental design was employed. The type of word presented (neutral, drug or gambling) was the within-subjects factor and the level of impaired control (high or low) over gambling behaviour was the between-subjects factor.

A sample of poker machine players (n = 60), varying in their frequency of play, were split into two groups based on their level of subjective impaired control over their gambling behaviour (high or low).

A computerized gambling-specific modified version of the Stroop task was used to assess response latencies. The test comprised three word categories: gambling, drug and neutral. The Scale of Gambling Choices (SGC) was used to assess participants' level of impaired control over gambling behaviour.

It was found that the participants who had difficulty in controlling their gambling behaviour (the low control group) took significantly longer to name the colour of the words relating to poker machine gambling, whereas those who had good control over their gambling behaviour (the high control group) did not show any significant differences across the three word categories.

Results support the previous finding that people with a problem behaviour or emotion take longer to colour-name words relating to the area of their concern. The current study extends previous work that has investigated the role of cognitive distortions and biases in the area of addictive behaviour. The current study confirms McCusker & Gettings's findings, but by avoiding the mental disorder conceptualization facilitates theoretical understanding of addictive behaviour. Implications for past models and theories of the Stroop as well as future research directions are discussed.