Does Exposure to Contingent Video-Game Tasks Influence Illusory Control on Non- Contingent Tasks?

Abstract

In recent years, research has focused on how video game participation may associate itself with problematic gambling cognition and behaviour. Research has considered whether video games, which are skilled tasks, may cause players to generalise an illusion of control to chance gambling tasks. However, this effect has not been investigated experimentally. The current study examines whether exposure to contingent or skilled tasks (in this case, a skilled video game) influences perceptions of skill and control on subsequent non-contingent tasks as compared with a control group. Participants (N = 64) were divided into 2 pre-test conditions (skilled video game task vs. control) x 2 non-contingent test tasks (similar vs. dissimilar to the skilled task). A 2x2 factorial ANOVA was used to determine the effect of conditions and tasks on variables of illusory control and hypothetical wagering. The results showed that exposure to a video game task did not increase illusory control and wager size. The chance task’s similarity to a video game also had no effect on illusory control, but did increase wager size. Consistent with previous literature, there was no association between self-reported video game playing frequency and illusory control or wager size. The findings are discussed in the context of future contingency learning research and interventions for problem gambling.