Effects of Online Gambling on Attention

Abstract

Following the explosion of the internet, online gambling has become a convenient and widespread form of gambling. This study examined potential attentional effects of online gambling in college students through the use of a modified Stroop task, one of the most well documented measures of attention. Participants (N=40) completed a survey and a modified Stroop task that included gambling-related words. There was no Stroop gambling interference effect observed between gamblers and non-gamblers, but Stroop gambling interference was significantly correlated with amount spent on online gambling. Also, gamblers did experience a larger Stroop interference effect than non-gamblers. The results support established literature, but further investigation is required regarding the observed differences in Stroop interference. Keywords: Addiction, attention, automaticity, gambling, Stroop