Toward an Integrative Behavioral Model of Gambling

Although the activity of gambling and the research on gambling continues to grow every year, behavior analysts have contributed minimally to the published literature. Theories of gambling abound from social to neurological frameworks, yet empirical data supporting such tenets is less than overwhelming. The science of behavior analysis often seeks data first and theory later. As a result, in the absence of a large body of data, behavior analysis has yet to put forward a comprehensive theoretical account of gambling behavior. Albeit limited, the behavioral data continue to emerge and collectively they begin to represent the foundation upon which a theory of gambling may rest. The present paper proposes an integrated behavioral model of pathological gambling, based on data, and consistent within a naturalistic account of scientific inquiry