From scarcity to persistence: Early environments, partial reinforcement and problematic gambling

ESRC DTP Strategic Joint Studentship

University of Leicester and Aston University

The Midlands Graduate School is an accredited Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). One of 15 such partnerships in the UK, the Midlands Graduate School is a collaboration between the Universities of Warwick, Birmingham, Nottingham, Aston
Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort and Nottingham Trent.

We are now inviting applications for an ESRC Strategic Joint Studentship between the School of Psychology and Vision Science, University of Leicester (where the student will be registered) and Aston University to commence in October 2026.

Project Details
Gambling harms are a major public health issue and are socioeconomically patterned, with people from more deprived backgrounds at higher risk of problem gambling. Decision-making models offer powerful tools for understanding the psychological mechanisms by which socioeconomic
environments shape gambling-related choices. This project will examine this with a focus on how features of early childhood environments (e.g., experiences of adversity, scarcity and unpredictability), influence the transition from recreational to problem gambling. The project will
build on tasks using the partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE), the phenomenon wherein weakly-reinforced behaviours persist longer after reinforcement ends than strongly-reinforced ones. Recent pilot findings with experimental simulations of socioeconomic circumstances show
that participants who begin partial reinforcement tasks “in debt” gamble longer in extinction phases. This project will extend this by exploiting the unique ability of laboratory PREE tasks to examine the precise mechanisms that drive addictive behaviour.

The project will combine formal modelling, experimental simulations of socioeconomic gradients, and self-reported measures of early life environments and psychological traits, to examine a series of interrelated research questions:

1. When and for which measures of socioeconomic status is the experimental PREE most
robust?

2. Which features of early life environments predict and interact with behaviour in this
paradigm?

3. Do these findings extend to target populations receiving support for addictive behaviour?

The project will be supervised by Dr Emma Bridger (University of Leicester) and Dr Richard Tunney
(Aston University) and will develop the candidate’s advanced quantitative skills in formal
mathematical modelling and simulation, experimental design, programming and coding and
hierarchical linear modelling. The PhD candidate will design all aspects of the project with input
from individuals with lived experience of gambling harm.

Candidates should have evidence of a strong academic record in psychology or related discipline. Experience working with minoritized or vulnerable populations and/or programming in Python are desirable skills. The successful candidate will benefit from a supportive supervision team and diverse research expertise across the Health and Wellbeing (with Ageing) Research Group (University of Leicester) and the Applied Health Research Group (Aston University).