Compulsive gambling is marked by ___1___. Where a non-gambler fears to tread, the compulsive gambler may ___2___. Bet on the Mets to sweep a doubleheader against the Phillies with two kids brought up from AA pitching against Halliday and Lee? Seems like a great idea!

Now a study of British gamblers finds that the ones who were the most impulsive were also way more likely to ___3___. For example, they put more stock in superstition, like rituals or carrying a lucky coin. Or they’ll believe more fervently that they got a slot machine that had simply gone cold, offering them no chance to win. Thereby ___4___ the actual laws of probability that govern their alleged luck.

The study looked at 30 compulsive gamblers who sought treatment at England’s National Problem Gambling Clinic. It was published in the journal Psychological Medicine. [Rosanna Michalczuk et al., "Impulsivity and Cognitive Distortions in Pathological Gamblers Attending the U.K. National Problem Gambling Clinic: a preliminary report"]

Thirty non-gamblers served as the control group. An interesting point to consider is that the gamblers in the study were ___5___ enough to know that they had a problem in need of treatment. Other compulsive bettors may be even less rational.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
poor impulse control rush in reason incorrectly discounting aware
赌博成瘾表现为自我控制能力差。常人望而却步，赌博成瘾者却能“义无反顾”。大都会里俩孩子是青少年棒球赛出来的，可以挡挡哈勒戴和李，横扫费城人两场应该没问题。这么好的机会，怎么能不赌一把！！ 对英国赌博者的一项研究发现，越冲动的人越容易丧失理智。他们相信迷信，比如某种仪式或者幸运硬币什么的；他们也可能偏执地认为他们面前的老虎机只是一时耍性子不让他们赢，而无视真正控制所谓运气的概率。 这项研究的对象是前往英格兰国家问题赌博治疗所寻求救治的30名赌博成瘾者。研究报告刊登在《心理医学》杂志上。