A narrow depression, notch, or slit, especially one for receiving something such as a coin or a letter. Also: a position in a construction into which one of several morphemes can fit; a grammatical function, especially in tagmemics. Compare slit, rut, and sloth.
Unlike most forms of gambling, slots provide immediate feedback: When players spin, they know instantly whether they have won or lost (the machine’s absence of auditory and visual feedback during losses is counteracted by the high-fidelity celebratory sounds and animations that accompany wins). As a result, slot machines are associated with strong levels of flow for most gamblers. However, the exogenous reining in of attention that occurs during slots play creates an unusual state for these players – one which Dixon and colleagues call dark flow. It is not surprising that dark flow ratings are strongly correlated with overall enjoyment, but it is noteworthy that this enjoyment is distinct from the enjoyment attributed to reward reactivity. These results demonstrate that different aspects of the pleasure of slots are derived from differing modes of reward processing, and they emphasize the importance of considering the individual motivations of a player when designing slot games.