Charlotte Eben

Doing it for kicks? Parsing the contributions of arousal perception and attribution as drivers of excessive gambling

Psychological theories of emotion and cognition agree that emotional episodes play an important role in decision making and risk evaluation. For emotions to influence decision-making, individuals need to perceive these signals (i.e. interoception), and attribute them to an internal cause. These processing stages have been found to be altered in some forms of mental illness. In gambling for example, it is assumed that altered levels of arousal are a source of reinforcement leading to problematic gambling behavior. Yet, to date the exact role of arousal remains unclear, because arousal signals alone (e.g. heart rate changes) do not differentiate between people with and without gambling problems. Dr. Eben currently investigates the role of arousal by using a novel approach where the respective contributions of arousal perception, the influence of risk and ambiguity on arousal and appraisal of arousal each be scrutinized.