There are a lot of people in the country who like to gamble. It’s something fun to do on the weekends. Unfortunately, there are a number of people who take the fun too seriously. They keep going back to the slot machines and to the tables, regardless of whether or not they win. Luke Clark of the University of Cambridge in England, along with some of his colleagues, wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. Though they found what areas of the brain light up even when a person doesn’t win, they didn’t answer the essential question: Why do people keep going back to the table?
From a social psychologist’s point of view, this small group of gamblers could be victims of gambler’s fallacy. Gambler’s fallacy is a common heuristic found in people who gamble. It is when a person believes that he has more of a chance of getting his desired outcome if his outcome has not happened yet—that chance events will balance out in the long run. Little do they know that even though this is true in some cases, it’s not good for people in the here and now.
So University of Cambridge scientists, it’s not about what’s lighting up like a jackpot machine in Las Vegas—it’s why that area is lighting up so bright, even during a loss.
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