Emotion, implicit decision making and persistence at gaming

In his commentary on our recent paper (Hills et al. 2001), Coventry (2001) endorsed the need to look much more closely at the role of emotion in gambling, and emphasized the importance of the relationship between emotion and decision making. We, in turn, endorse this suggestion, particularly with respect to implicit (largely unconscious) decision-making processes. These have been neglected in favour of a view of decision making as a conscious, deliberate and rational process.