Exploring rule following on electronic scratch-offs

Online gambling, including lottery and scratch-offs, are popular games across the globe. However, minimal behavior analytic research has focused lottery games. The purpose of the current study was to explore the sequence effects of rules outlining faulty and correct contingencies during electronic scratch-off play. Seven participants were assigned to one of the two groups differing in order of rule presentation (Group A faulty then correct rules; Group B correct, faulty) and were tasked with playing a computerized scratch-off activity. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design with predetermined phase changes was used for both groups. Results found that five of the seven participants reliably changed their bet response allocation following rule exposure, with Group B producing a more consistent responding. While limited, the current study provides additional evidence for the illusion of control in a novel scratch-off context. Future studies should examine the impact of rules on various gambling formats, such as sports betting.