Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

Combining Computer Game-Based Behavioural Experiments With High-Density EEG and Infrared Gaze Tracking
Published on: December 16, 2010
On Finding the C in CBT: The Challenges of Applying Gambling-Related Cognitive Approaches to Video-Gaming
1School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, Level 4, Hughes Building, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia, paul.delfabbro@adelaide.edu.au.
Abstract:
Many similarities have been drawn between the activities of gambling and video-gaming. Both are repetitive activities with intermittent reinforcement, decision-making opportunities, and elements of risk-taking. As a result, it might be tempting to believe that cognitive strategies that are used to treat problem gambling might also be applied to problematic video gaming. In this paper, we argue that many cognitive approaches to gambling that typically involve a focus on erroneous beliefs about probabilities and randomness are not readily applicable to video gaming. Instead, we encourage a focus on other clusters of cognitions that relate to: (a) the salience and over-valuing of gaming rewards, experiences, and identities, (b) maladaptive and inflexible rules about behaviour, (c) the use of video-gaming to maintain self-esteem, and (d) video-gaming for social status and recognition. This theoretical discussion is advanced as a starting point for the development of more refined cognitive treatment approaches for problematic video gaming.
Related Concept Videos
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Cognitive Therapy
The Influence of Cognition on Affect

