Mindful Continuing Education

1. The similarities between gambling disorder and substance use disorders have been well documented, and the reclassification of gambling disorder within the DSM-5 addictions category marks an important step for addiction science.

A. True B. False

2. Numerous studies that have examined the predisposition to develop a range of addictive disorders, including gambling disorder, drug-related issues, and risky sexual behaviors, have pinpointed the shared marker of:

A. Sensation seeking B. Social isolation C. Impulsivity D. Nonconformity

3. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies using reward processing and decision-making tasks describe consistent abnormalities across the key nodes in this circuit in gambling disorder.

A. True B. False

4. Humans display a number of systematic errors in processing under conditions of chance, which come to the fore in gambling games and are known as sensory biases.

A. True B. False

5. Each of the following are accurate statements about the illusion of control and the gambler’s fallacy EXCEPT:

A. The illusion of control refers to irrelevant features of a game that create a sense that one is developing some kind of skill over an outcome that is in fact determined by chance alone B. Gamblers take more risk and are more confident when they can make an irrelevant choice such as choosing lottery numbers or when they can exert instrumental action like throwing dice or a roulette ball C. The gambler’s fallacy occurs when observing sequences of random outcomes, and then following a run of the same outcome, players typically predict that the other outcome will occur next D. Most psychological accounts of the gambler’s fallacy refer to the law of conditioned reinforcement and reward balances and imbalances

6. Video gaming is similar to gambling in that play has been associated with trait impulsivity, cognitive impairments are described on tasks of impulsive choice and impulsive action, and video game play is associated with substantial physiological arousal.

A. True B. False

7. Despite the presumed absence of damaging neurotoxic effects, gambling disorder displays a clear neurocognitive profile with evidence of impulsive choice such as preference for immediate rewards and:

A. Risky decision making B. Succumbing to a compelling urge C. Inability to plan or prepare D. Low self-control