New research appears to confirm the hypothesis that problem gamblers are more likely to enter a ‘zone’ when sitting at a slot machine.

This month, the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors journal published the results of a new study by the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Gambling Research. The study sought to determine if problem gamblers displayed more “attentional pathology” than subjects with no history of gambling problems.

The study involved two groups: one was composed of UBC undergrads with no history of problem gambling while the other group consisted of individuals for whom slots play was a familiar activity. This latter group included some self-identified problem gamblers.

The subjects were asked to play a real slot machine in the UBC lab. The machine had video panels mounted on each side that displayed moving shapes, including white circles. The subjects were asked to press a button whenever they noticed a white circle morph into a red square to measure their “peripheral target detection.”