psychpost | 5/04/2011 04:10:00 AM
Superstition can be defined as: a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation. An example of superstitious behavior is to blow on dice before rolling them to increase chance of winning (the probability of the dice roll is not affected).
I chose to discuss the formation and reinforcement of superstitious behavior because it is something I notice a lot. Examples of superstitious behaviors can be seen in gambling, sports, and virtually any activity with chance involved. For example there are many baseball players who have a routine ritual they follow each time they are at bat.2 Also sports fans are likely to wear special clothing or preform pre-game rituals on game days because they believe it will bring luck to their team.
Article for discussion: http://www.psychologyinspain.com/content/reprints/2000/3.pdf (Psychology article, Superstition in Gambling)
In this article, experimenters were looking for superstitious behaviors in gambling. The participants were given a small amount of money (about 5USD) and were presented with a game in which they would be able to win a maximum of about 35USD. The game was a dice game (rolling a winning number) and winning was determined only by chance. After a few rolls, participants were given the option to either roll again, or let an experimenter roll for them. Participants who were winning were highly likely to continue rolling themselves, while those who have been losing were likely to let the experimenters roll for them.
Another experiment in which participants (playing a dice game again) were given magnetic bracelets. Although the bracelets do not affect the outcome of the games, participants considered it to be a "lucky charm" or felt less confident while wearing it.
These experiments show that individuals are more likely to repeat behaviors that are accompanied by a positive reinforcer (ie. they are positivley reinforced). Meaning, that when a participant wins, they are likely to repeat the course of actions prior to their win. Although the behaviors do not actually effect the outcome, they tie in closely. The opposite is true for those who experienced more losses.
It is clear to see that the formation development of superstitious behaviors can be attributed to operant conditioning.
PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.flickr.com/photos/missturner/