title: Near-wins and near-losses in gambling: a behavioral and facial EMG study.
abstract: This study investigated responses to near-wins (i.e., nonwin outcomes that were close to a major win, and their counterpart, near-losses (nonwin outcomes that are proximal to a major loss) in a decision-making task, measuring (a) luck ratings, (b) adjustment of bet amount, and (c) facial muscle reactivity at zygomaticus and corrugator sites. Compared to full-misses, near-wins decreased self-perceived luck and near-losses increased self-perceived luck, consistent with the effects of upward versus downward counterfactual thinking, respectively. Wins and losses both increased zygomaticus reactivity, and losses selectively enhanced corrugator reactivity. Near-wins heightened zygomaticus activity, but did not affect corrugator activity, thus showing a similar response pattern to actual wins. There were no significant facial EMG effects of near-losses. We infer that near-wins engender some appetitive processing, despite their objective nonwin status.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D004576:Electromyography; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive distortion; Electromyography; Gambling; Near-miss; Risk taking