Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35877672›Full record

ArticlePloS one2022

Do pupillary responses during authentic slot machine use reflect arousal or screen luminance fluctuations? A proof-of-concept study.

Andy J Kim, W Spencer Murch, Eve H Limbrick-Oldfield, Mario A Ferrari, Kent I MacDonald, Jolande Fooken, Mariya V Cherkasova, Miriam Spering, Luke Clark

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Post-reinforcement pauses during slot machine gambling are moderated by immersion.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Andy J KimCentre for Gambling Research at UBC, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-8544-9066
W Spencer MurchCentre for Gambling Research at UBC, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-2780-3578
Eve H Limbrick-OldfieldCentre for Gambling Research at UBC, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Mario A FerrariCentre for Gambling Research at UBC, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Kent I MacDonaldCentre for Gambling Research at UBC, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Jolande FookenDepartment of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-8788-2266
Mariya V CherkasovaDjavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Miriam SperingDepartment of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Luke ClarkCentre for Gambling Research at UBC, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-1103-2422

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Modern slot machines are among the more harmful forms of gambling. Psychophysiological measures may provide a window into mental processes that underpin these harms. Here we investigated pupil dilation derived from eye tracking as a means of capturing changes in sympathetic nervous system arousal following outcomes on a real slot machine. We hypothesized that positively reinforcing slot machine outcomes would be associated with increases in arousal, reflected in larger pupil diameter. We further examined the contribution of game luminance fluctuations on pupil diameter. In Experiment 1A, experienced slot machine gamblers (N = 53) played a commercially-available slot machine in a laboratory for 20 minutes while wearing mobile eye tracking glasses. Analyses differentiated loss outcomes, wins, losses-disguised-as-wins, and (free-spin) bonus features. Bonus features were associated with rapid increases in pupil diameter following the onset of outcome-related audiovisual feedback, relative to losses. In Experiment 1B, luminance data were extracted from captured screen videos (derived from Experiment 1A) to characterize on-screen luminance changes that could modulate pupil diameter. Bonus features and wins were associated with pronounced and complex fluctuations in screen luminance (≈50 L and ≈25L, respectively). However, the pupil dilation that was observed to bonus features in Experiment 1A coincided temporally with only negligible changes in screen luminance, providing partial evidence that the pupil dilation to bonus features may be due to arousal. In Experiment 2, 12 participants viewed pairs of stimuli (scrambled slot machine images) at luminance difference thresholds of ≈25L, ≈50L, and ≈100L. Scrambled images presented at luminance differences of ≈25L and greater were sufficient to cause pupillary responses. Overall, pupillometry may detect event-related changes in sympathetic nervous system arousal following gambling outcomes, but researchers must pay careful attention to substantial in-game luminance changes that may confound arousal-based interpretations.

Indexed as

GamblingArousalHumansPupil

Identifiers

PMID35877672
PMCPMC9312385

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.