The cognitive approach to explaining gambling addiction is based on the ​assumption​ that

irrational beliefs and distorted thinking contribute​ to the ​initiation and maintenance​ of
problem gambling.

The ​gambler’s fallacy​ is the belief that ​completely random events​ such as a coin toss are
somehow ​linked to recent events​. E.g. A gambler might believe that particular outcomes (three
heads in a row) will be ​balanced​ out by the opposite outcome (three tales in a row).

Self efficacy or illusions of control​ uses beliefs shown through ​superstitious​ behaviour,
which the gambler things will help them to ​manipulate​ the event outcome in their favour.
Pathological gamblers may also show ​exaggerated self confidence​ in that they think they can
beat the system​. This is explained by attributions gamblers make about the gambling, with
success attributed​ to their ​personal ability/skill​, and ​failure attributed​ to c
​ hance​ factors,
such as ​bad luck​.

The ​near miss bias​ is when an unsuccessful outcome is ​close to a win​, e.g. a horse the
camper but on comes in second place, or 2 out of three cherries are displayed on the fruit
machine. As a consequence, the gambler may feel that he is ​not constantly losing but
constantly nearly winning​. Near misses appear to have some awarding value for the gambler
despite the lack of any financial reinforcement associated with actually winning.

Pathological gamblers often suffer from recall bias, e.g. detentive remember and overestimate
wins, whilst forgetting about, underestimating and rationalising losses. This means that a string
of losses does not always act as a disincentive for future dumpling. Such people please they will
eventually be rewarded for their affects and could be motivated to keep gambling because that
they believe that they deserve or argue a win because of all the past losses. This is classic
cognitive biased also known as the just world hypothesis

Research by Griffith has found that up to 80% of gambling related verbalisations made by
problem gamblers are considered irrational. Interestingly, research with recreational gamblers
has not found the same high amounts of cognitive biases. This therefore supports the claim that
irrational beliefs are what sustains the gambling habit and makes people more vulnerable to
developing a gambling addiction.

The practical applications of the cognitive theory as a method for explaining and treating
gambling CBT has been developed out of the assumptions of the cognitive approach. CBT can
be used to correct biases (gambler’s fallacy) which in turn would reduce the motivation to
gamble. Research by Echeburua has found that CBT is effective at reducing relapse in
gamblers who played slot machines. This demonstrates that the cognitive theory can be used to
benefit society.

A criticism of the cognitive theory is that it can’t explain