Acknowledging the harm that might result from any leisure activity can be taboo. With the help of leading neuroscientists and the RGA, iNTERGAMINGi considers how embracing harm minimisation strategies could make us all better players.
“ONE of the main reasons why plain cigarette packaging is a strategy for regulating the tobacco industry is because cues – logos and symbols – are very powerful for habit formation.”
Dr Molly Crockett is a tutorial fellow in the department of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford. Her work has featured in the New York Times, Financial Times, New Scientist and on the BBC and she has given a TED talk on debunking myths about neuroscience.
Last year Crockett wrote about the neurological implications of situational context on decision making and the ways in which willpower can be eroded. In short, Crockett is both an esteemed scientist and a straight talker – and she has some valuable insights on how the brains of online gamblers respond to the cues around them.
Keen to learn more, iNTERGAMINGi spoke to Crockett about the neuroscience of online gaming. “What we know about how the brain processes reward is that when there are cues around that predict a reward they activate certain neurotransmitters in the brain.
“In a casino or on a website, you will most likely see money and symbols representing money everywhere; these are cues associated with reward and what that does is stimulate the dopamine system, which then motivates you to seek out those rewards. This a quite well documented phenomenon.
“It makes sense in the context of which we evolved,” Crockett continues. “If your goal is to get as many rewards as possible, and then you see cues for those rewards in your environment, they are available if you only just act to seek them out. “It’s a phenomenon known as ‘Pavlovian-instrumental transfer’ and we know that this is mediated by dopamine.”
Read the full article in the latest issue of iNTERGAMINGi
