GamPIT: Examining the Influence of Gambling-Related Cues on Instrumental Behaviour Using Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer
Abstract
Objective: Gambling-related harm is a major public health concern, yet the mechanisms through which gambling-related cues influence behaviour remain poorly understood. Across two experiments, we examined whether gambling-related cues influence behaviour through Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT), and whether the strength of PIT effects is associated with risk of gambling harm. Method: Participants completed a single-response Go/No-go PIT task, with gambling harm indexed using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Experiment 1 (N = 129) examined PIT using gambling-related conditioned stimuli (CSs), whereas Experiment 2 (N = 129) additionally incorporated visually matched neutral CSs. Results: Robust appetitive and aversive PIT effects were observed across both experiments (ps < .05; Cohen's ds: .56–1.69), demonstrating that conditioned cues systematically modulated instrumental responding. PIT effects showed little association with gambling severity (PGSI group), suggesting cue-driven behavioural transfer may operate independently of risk status. Neutral cues elicited a more graded PIT function in the approach condition than gambling-related cues, suggesting gambling-specific cues may engage a more categorical, rather than incentive-graded, approach response. Conclusions: These findings provide the first experimental demonstration of PIT in a gambling context and establish PIT as a valuable framework for understanding how conditioned gambling cues influence behaviour.
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BibTeX
@misc{brennan2026gampit,
title = {{GamPIT: Examining the Influence of Gambling-Related Cues on Instrumental Behaviour Using Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer}},
author = {Anthony Brennan and Jamie Torrance and Camilla Nord and Simon Dymond and Martyn Quigley},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/694gz_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/694gz_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - GamPIT: Examining the Influence of Gambling-Related Cues on Instrumental Behaviour Using Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer
AU - Anthony Brennan
AU - Jamie Torrance
AU - Camilla Nord
AU - Simon Dymond
AU - Martyn Quigley
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/05
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/694gz_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/694gz_v1/
AB - Objective: Gambling-related harm is a major public health concern, yet the mechanisms through which gambling-related cues influence behaviour remain poorly understood. Across two experiments, we examined whether gambling-related cues influence behaviour through Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT), and whether the strength of PIT effects is associated with risk of gambling harm. Method: Participants completed a single-response Go/No-go PIT task, with gambling harm indexed using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Experiment 1 (N = 129) examined PIT using gambling-related conditioned stimuli (CSs), whereas Experiment 2 (N = 129) additionally incorporated visually matched neutral CSs. Results: Robust appetitive and aversive PIT effects were observed across both experiments (ps < .05; Cohen's ds: .56–1.69), demonstrating that conditioned cues systematically modulated instrumental responding. PIT effects showed little association with gambling severity (PGSI group), suggesting cue-driven behavioural transfer may operate independently of risk status. Neutral cues elicited a more graded PIT function in the approach condition than gambling-related cues, suggesting gambling-specific cues may engage a more categorical, rather than incentive-graded, approach response. Conclusions: These findings provide the first experimental demonstration of PIT in a gambling context and establish PIT as a valuable framework for understanding how conditioned gambling cues influence behaviour.
ER -