Associate Professor Paul Delfabbro

Room 410, Hughes Building Phone +61 (08) 83034936 Fax +61 (08) 8303 3770 paul.delfabbro@adelaide.edu.au Personal Page

Area of Research

Human Cognition and Applied Decision Making.

Senior Appointments and Memberships

Senior Lecturer.

National Association for Gambling Studies.

Australian Psychological Society.

Member of Health, Disability and Lifespan Development Group

Awards

George Fraser Scholarship (No. 1 ranked scholarship applicant at the University in 1993).

Psychology Research Interests

Gambling and the role of cognitive and behavioural factors in the maintenance of within-session behaviour. Although many studies have suggested that cognitive factors (irrational thoughts, heuristics and biases) may play a role in gambling, less attention has been given to the role of learning principles in gambling. Using computer simulations, my current research is examining how variations in reinforcement schedules, reinforcement frequency and magnitudes influence decision-making and behaviour.

Foster care and issues such as the predictors of reunification, the effect of placement movements upon well-being, the perceived effects of parental contact, and the additional economic costs of placing difficult children into care.

 Programs relating to children with challenging behaviours in out of home care.

Learning theory and the issue of contingency and the illusion of control. Several research projects which I have supervised have examined Matute's (1994) (Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology) contention that people are more likely to develop an illusion of control when presented with a non-contingent without failure feedback, rather than learned helplessness and performance deficits. My other interest in learning theory relates to the use of behavioural schedules as a method of measuring people's ability to gauge duration, and also the effects of distraction on temporally-based schedules.

Adolescent gambling and the relationship between early adolescent adjustment, attitudes and early employment outcomes.

Recent Key Publications

Delfabbro, P.H., Winefield, A.H., & Anderson, S. (2008, in press). Once a gambler- always a gambler- longitudinal analysis of adolescent gambling patterns. International Gambling Studies

Chamberlain, P., Goldney, R., & Delfabbro, P.H. (in press). Kessler-10 and suicide ideation. Crisis

Delfabbro, P.H., Borgas, M., Rogers, N., Jeffries, H., & Wilson, R. (2008, in press). The Social and Family Backgrounds of Infants in Care and Their Capacity to Predict Subsequent Abuse Notifications: A Study of South Australian Out-of-home Care 2000-2005. Children and Youth Services Review.

Delfabbro, P.H., Vast, R., Borgas, M., & Osborn, A. (2008) The Effectiveness of Public Foster Carer Recruitment Campaigns: The South Australian experience. Children Australia.

Delfabbro, P. H., & Eltridge, F. (2008, in press). Evaluating the effectiveness of a limited reduction in electronic gaming machine availability on gambling behaviour and expenditure. International Gambling Studies