There is a reason why casinos rarely have windows or watches: they are designed to lose the notion of time. But what if it is not just what you are losing? New research suggests that the lighting used in game environments could be discreetly alter our way of making decisions, making us more likely to assume risks.
The color of the lights around us can do more than simply create the environment. It can mold our behavior.
A new study by researchers from the University of Flinders in Australia discovered that the lighting enriched with blue (the same cold and bright tone that is used in many LED lights and modern digital screens) can reduce the sensitivity of the player to losses. In a controlled experiment, the participants exposed to this type of light made more risky bets and responded with less emotion to the losses.
Researchers believe that this change in decision making has its roots in our biology. The human body is sensitive to different wavelengths of light, not only for vision, but also to regulate our internal watches and emotional states. It was shown that blue light, in particular, suppresses melatonin production, a hormone that tells the body that it is time to prepare to sleep.
The investigations also demonstrated that the blue light can increase the alert state and influence the brain areas related to reward and motivation, stimulating the neuronal circuits involved in anticipation and decision making. In the case of gambling, this greater activation could attenuate our natural aversion to the loss, even when the probabilities are against us.
Light can influence many other surprising ways. Studies showed that colder lighting and blue tones can improve cognitive performance and alertness during the day, which is why it is often used in offices and classrooms. The warmer lighting is more relaxing and is usually recommended by sleep scientists and health professionals for nights and promoting a better rest.
Retailers also exploited for a long time the psychological effects of lighting, using bright and directed lighting, often in the form of high intensity spotlights or LEDs, to attract attention to products.
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Lighting and sounds: the keys to casinos to deceive the brain
The color and intensity of lighting can also affect the perception of the value and attractiveness of consumers. This encourages spending by increasing visual relevance, making a product stand out more and capture attention, and creating a more attractive sensory experience.
Certain light colors seem to have different effects in different environments. Red light can have effects that increase appetite. This is possibly because it stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, associated with excitation and physiological preparation. On the other hand, studies suggest that green light can reduce pain and light sensitivity in people with migraine.
But lighting is only half of the sensory equation in the casinos. Sound design plays a fundamental role in immersive game environments. Cheerful music can reduce risk aversion, accelerating decision making and creating an emergency feeling.
Tintineos and festive sounds serve as auditory rewards, reinforcing positive emotions even without an economic gain. When players lose, slot machines usually produce holiday sounds and flashing lights, creating what researchers call a “loss disguised in profit.” This sensory mismatch deceives the brain making him believe that he is successful, distorting our ability to evaluate the risk or stop playing.
In game environments, it has been shown that the red light combined with sounds similar to those of a casino eliminates the usual cognitive idle after losses during decision making, which leads players to make faster decisions without the usual pause for reflection.
A 2018 study showed that intermittent animations and bright colors can increase excitation and attention, making the game more stimulating and immersive. This, in turn, delays self -regulation and increases the time spent to game. Indeed, the environment constantly drives you to stay, to play and to believe that the next victory is just around the corner.
As the game moves more and more to the Internet, these principles are moving to digital platforms. Online slot games usually use intermittent animations, bright colors and background music that mimic the atmosphere of a physical casino. The blue light emitted by the screens can be equally stimulating, especially at night, which could aggravate the effects observed in the study of the University of Flinders.
If subtle changes in lighting can lead to riskier decisions, regulating these characteristics could help promote less harmful game behaviors. For example, promoting warmer lighting in game stores or digital environments could help prevent excessive game.
The lights and sounds that surround us in these environments are not just decoration. They are carefully designed to increase excitation, mitigate sensitivity to losses and foster risky decisions.
Our responses to color, brightness and sound are produced at the subconscious level, which means that even informed players can be influenced by them. Reducing device screen brightness, using blue light filters at night or disabled game sounds can help counteract some of these psychological effects on the game online.
But a significant change will probably require a political intervention that considers environmental design not as a neutral backdrop, but as a powerful influence on behavior, one that must be configured taking into account responsibility with the well -being of the consumer, not only profit.
With information from The Conversation.
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