What is the 'scarcity loop' in slot machine design?

Question

I've heard that slot machines are designed to be addictive, but what exactly is the 'scarcity loop' that makes them so entrancing to people?

Answer 1

The 'scarcity loop' is a behavioral loop that consists of three parts: opportunity, unpredictable rewards, and quick repeatability. In the context of slot machines, the opportunity is the chance to win money, the rewards are unpredictable as the outcome of each spin is random, and the quick repeatability allows players to immediately repeat the action, with the average player playing about 16 games per minute. This loop is highly effective at getting people hooked because it taps into deep-seated evolutionary behaviors related to resource acquisition and survival.

Comments

This explains why me and my friends are so addicted to fishing   cast after cast after cast getting nothing in hopes of getting something big. Weird how much it relates

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I train dogs professionally and have for a while. We use concepts called “variable reinforcement” and “random reinforcement” to make dogs’ behaviors much more predictable and consistent when using positive reinforcement methods.

When I teach people these concepts, I like to use the slot machine as an example/analogy. It’s always funny to me how people tend to think they’re beyond learning like animals. Even though the truth is they’re just as much of a slave to operant and classical conditioning as their dogs.

So in a nutshell, casinos know how to use basic behavior science to manipulate people. Just like a dog trainer does to manipulate a dog. But keep in mind it doesn’t stop at casinos. Those same concepts are everywhere.

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I had a professor in Human Computer-interaction who explained that "Those two lemons on the digital slot-machine" are just window-paint. - It can either be a "1" or a "0", ie. win or not win. - What we see when we loose is the screen that will make it appear as if we just misse,d to entice us continue gambling - The screen might as well flash all red when we loose and all green when we win, but then we wouldn't get the illusion of "almost winning".

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The pigeon story was only half told. If you extend the reward in the second game to even more pecks suah as every 15 pecs the pigeons still go frantic trying to peck at the machine with the 20 reward even if extended out to 100 pecks

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Slot machines use variable ratio schedules of reinforcement. These produce higher rates of responding than fixed ratios which deliver reinforcement at a predictable rate. The pigeon experiment he referred to demonstrates this principle. Furthermore, there are motivating operations influence behavior as well. The displays showing previous winnings and potential winnings have an evocative effect on the gambling behavior.

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They don't predict the behavior they engineer it

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I work at a casino and I always wondered why some people come every day to play knowing they are losing more than then win. This makes way more sense.

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I work in Las Vegas, and I have this lady who will never sit in a machine if it doesn't make noise, she says it's not fun. I laughed and said, "Is it because the noise gives you a hit of dopamine?" I don't think she realized that's what it was because that question shocked her... other than that, I have a LOT of weird, crazy, Vegas stories.

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He left out an important part of that experiment, and I think it was done on rats too. When the reward was consistent, the animals would collect themselves a stash of food and then relax until it was eaten. When the reward was random, they would mash the button obsessively.

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Unpredictable reward sounds like Variable Ratio Interval Reinforcement. It’s a very powerful form of behavioral influence.