A slot is a narrow opening or position in a machine for receiving something, such as a coin or a letter. A slot is also a name for a certain type of machine, such as a fruit or video slot.
While the majority of gamblers enjoy gambling as a harmless form of entertainment, a small percentage may experience severe problems related to their gambling. These problems include financial debt, strained relationships and professional difficulties. A subset of these problem gamblers are pathological gamblers, characterized by compulsive and addictive behavior that may involve the use of criminal activities to fund their gambling. It is imperative to understand what aspects of slot machine play appeal to this vulnerable group in order to mitigate gambling harms.
One factor underlying the allure of slot machines is the illusion that winning combinations are accompanied by both visual and auditory stimuli. However, the relationship between these cues and player enjoyment is not well understood. In this study, we compared the enjoyment of players when winning symbols accompanied by sound were activated with the enjoyment of those playing at a slower speed with no sounds. The results support the hypothesis that arousal is a key component of slots enjoyment and that the auditory and visual components play a role in this enjoyment.
The research was conducted on three separate slot simulators that were housed in the skeuomorphic design of a traditional slot machine. A force transducer was fixed underneath the spin button of each simulator, and when the button was depressed to initiate a spin, the amount of pressure applied was converted into a volt signal that was recorded by an AD Instruments PowerLabs and saved in Labchart.