The effect of embedded bonus rounds on slot machine preference

Adults without disabilities played two slot-machine games at once. One game hid a short bonus round. The other did not. Both paid the same amount over time.

The team switched which machine held the bonus. They watched where players put their bets.

People kept picking the machine with the hidden bonus, even when it paid less often. The extra mini-game pulled their choices away from strict money value.

The bonus worked on both rich and lean schedules. Choice followed the fun extra, not just the coins.

Pliskoff et al. (1972) first showed that a brief light signaling food can steer pigeons to one side of a two-key cage. Belisle et al. (2017) now show the same idea keeps working when the signal grows into a full bonus round for people.

Macht (1971) proved that short stimuli paired with food can act like reinforcers on their own. The new study uses that power by hiding those stimuli inside a slot game.

Giallo et al. (2006) tried to shift slot choices with written rules. Their results were mixed and weak. The 2017 paper gets a cleaner, stronger shift by adding a bonus instead of words.

You can make a task more attractive without raising the pay-off. Drop a quick game, song clip, or animation at rare moments in the work you want boosted. Keep the overall reinforcement rate the same. Clients will flock to that activity even if it pays no better than the rest. Try it next time you need to balance two workstations or shared materials.