Newsletter
Volume 30 | 2007 | Number 2
Behaviorists Interested in Gambling
By Dr. Mark Dixon
The Behaviorists Interested in Gambling SIG (BIG-SIG) has been very active over the past year. The number of gambling-related presentations and posters at ABA in 2007 was at an all-time high. Topics included gambling and the discounting function, equivalence relations and Texas Hold’em, choice in free ranging gamblers, and ACT therapy for treatment of pathological gamblers. What is rather exciting is that just a couple of years ago, only a very few laboratory-based gambling investigations were presented at ABA. This year we saw theory, research, and clinical practice from a behavior analytic perspective. In short, the behavioral contribution to the study of gambling is growing across a wide range of scientific inquiry.
Many of the SIG members contributed chapters to a new behavior analytic textbook on gambling entitled Gambling available through Context Press (www.contextpress.com). This collection of chapters will serve as a great text for an undergrad or grad seminar on the study of risk and decision making, gambling, or human choice.
Probably the most important activity that has taken place over the past year has been the creation of a new journal: the Analysis of Gambling Behavior. This open-access journal can be found at http://www.siu.edu/~rehabbat/AGB/AGBindex.html. With the first issue almost completed, AGB promises to be a premier publication outlet for scientifically-based gambling research.
June 2007 was an exciting month for BIG-SIG members as they convened in Las Vegas, NV for a one day, single-track conference specifically on behavior analytic research in gambling. Interested persons wishing to attend future events should contact Mark Dixon at mdixon@siu.edu for more information as it becomes available.