Class 11: Synopsis & Psychological
Aspects of Alter's (2017) Irresistible, Chs. 4-9
Chap. 4: “Goals”
Goals serve to
motivate people although once reached people look
for new goals
Some goals in
the digital world are anti-productive, e.g.,
making sure that all of your emails are read and
responded to.
One can
approach goal-setting either by focusing upon
long-term goals or paying attention to daily tasks
that lead to those long-term goals.
Sometimes in
the digital world we lose track of what our real
goals are and continue to use the digital devices
even though they are keeping us from what we want.
Questions: Using Maslow's
"hierarchy of needs" as a guide, what goals do
you (or others) have in using digital media? Are
these short or long-term goals?
Chap. 5:
“Feedback”
We are
attracted to rewards from childhood onward.
For example, not only do little kids press buttons
on an elevator, but adults do too even when they
don’t actually do anything.
We look for
results from what we do (that is, “feedback”). On
Facebook, we can’t know if anyone will give us a
“like” for a posting, but when we do get such
feedback, we are rewarded in a way similar to
winning at gambling.
In real casinos on
slot machines, there are algorithms that allow the
machine to sense when the player is getting less
likely to play. The machine will then give the
player a “win” to encourage them to gamble more.
In various online games, players will get a
similar kind of unexpected “win” in order to keep
playing.
One of
the most perilous psychological factors in any
kind of gambling or otherwise spending time/money,
etc. is the notion of “almost winning.”
In a slot machine, it is more likely that a player
will receive a series of responses that are only
one response away from winning (e.g., four hearts
and a single diamond). Rather than thinking that
they have lost, the player thinks, “Well, I almost
won” and continues to play.
Question: Have you ever
continued doing something because you said to
yourself "well, I almost succeeded? How long would
you commit yourself to doing something if you kept
missing your goal?
Chap. 6:
“Progress”
Games online
are often designed to hook the players by creating
situations in which the player can advance if they
are willing to spend just a bit more money or
credits or whatever currency the game requires.
Often online
games are tested to be sure that they are easy
enough for almost anyone to engage in using
them. With the onset of mobile devices
such as smart phones, designers make sure that
their game or app well fits on the screen of the
device.
Question: Have you ever
paid something just to get a bit ahead in a
game or some other online activity? Have you
ever tried to use some app or play some
online game and found that it was not clear
how to do so?
Chap. 7 “Escalation”
·Experiments
show students are willing to receive electrical shocks
rather than be bored. We want to be doing something!
·Sense of hardship/difficulty is
compelling in both gaming and behavioral addictions
(BA). Starting off at a comfortable level and, then,
gradually increasing how hard the task may be.
·TETRIS: offers a sense of mastery
·BA: often come wrapped in a cloak of
creation by media user
Question: What does it feel like to be
bored? What do you prefer to do rather than be
bored?
Lev Vygotsky & the ZPD (“Zone of
Proximal Development”) & Mihalyi
Csizkszentmihalyi: Flow
(1990)
·“Ludic loop” = a behavior
you keep performing because each time you do so you get
a small reward (“ludus” in Latin means “play”)\
·The power of “near wins”
which suggest that you are close to victory (even if you
aren’t)
·Paco Underhill’s research in 1990s about
“Stopping Rules” – that often unconscious
prompt which gets you to end doing something.
oIn many BA apps, there are no stopping
rules. We continue to want to perform a behavior even in
the absence of any clear reward.
oCredit cards as examples of so little
feedback (e.g., you don’t know the balance of what you
owe) that individuals keep using them even when they are
in deep debt.
Bluma
Zeigarnik
(1900-1998). Psychologist in the Soviet Union
The
Zeigarnik Effect = incomplete
experiences (things we do not end) or objects tend to
occupy our minds and attention far more than those
which are completed.
Examples
NPR 2014
October 12 part podcast: “Serial” keeps listeners
guessing
HBO
2015 serial documentaries: The Jinx (on
murderer Robert Durst) and Making a Murderer
(Steven Avery)
The last
(86th) episode of The Sopranos on
HBO offers no clear ending to what happened to Tony
Soprano. The screen simply goes dark.
Unpredictable rewards (= cliffhangers)
are powerfully motivating.
Research with dopamine argues
that it is the unpredictability that is most
likely to evoke the release of dopamine.
Anything that is surprising or novel will lead to the
release of dopamine while experiences that are
repetitive and offer nothing new tend not to cause the
release of dopamine.
Compulsive
shopping online and flash sales, e.g., GILT website
(chimes announcing new sale) = unpredictability
Binge TV episode
viewing on Netflix or another streaming media service
2012
(August)
with “Post Play” in which viewer has to positively
decide NOT to watch the next episode which loads
automatically
2013:
61% American adults engaged in 2-6 episode/sitting
TV bingeing.
"Opt
out” strategies are less likely to be used rather than
“opt in” – e.g., organ donation
Question: What experience do you have
with "cliffhangers" -- that is, are there media
series in which you kept coming back in order to
find out what finally happens (think: Survivor)?
Chap.
9: "Social Interaction"
Hipstermatic
(2010; an app that failed) vs. Instagram (2011; an app
that was widely successful)
Instagram
is free to download rather than pay
Instagram:
Posting to a dedicated social network of other
viewers which generates likes, etc.
Personal
self worth is key issue for human beings and
receiving social feedback is wired into us
We
are very sensitive to negative feedback from
others. It stings.
Pressure
to present ourselves as “perfect” and receive social
approval
How
many social media apps solicit either "likes" and
"dislikes" or comments from those who view our
postings?
Group membership is an
evolutionarily conserved force in human life where
we depend upon the social confirmation of others =
human beings are highly social beings who
generally need to belong to and be accepted by
groups.
MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons)
MMO (Massively Multiplayer
Online) gaming such as World of Warfare (WoW)
Such games promote online
“friendships” with those with whom you play
Andrew Doan (2012)Hooked
on Games: The Lure and Cost of Video Game and
Internet Addiction.
What
do all successful video games share in common?
Immersive Experience
Gamer feels sense of achievement:
meets obstacles, advances to new levels, etc.
Social connection with other gamers
What
does Doan claim?
OL (online) friendships are different
than friendships IRL (in real life)
The capacity for friendship develops
over time during childhood and shapes the brain in
so doing
When deprived of the chance of FTF
(face-to-face) interactions during the critical
period of development, children develop “emotional
amblyopia” – i.e., major difficulty in functioning
as a friend IRL compared to OL.
Question: Have you ever been hurt
by some sort of feedback online, or have you ever
been made happy by the feedback that you got for
something you did or said online?
Discussion of Alter's irresistible
Six Principles
for Engineering Behavioral Addictions (BAs) in
Digital Devices and Apps
1. Set goals that can create a sense of “flow”
so that users of the app or device expend greater effort
and motivation.
2. Provide constant feedback that makes the
users want more of the stimuli (lights, sounds, “likes”
are all examples of feedback people enjoy.
3. Make sure that users can progress in the game or
app (rather than losing) so that they remain
engaged in what they are playing or doing. psy355.11.irresistible.html
4. By balancing the difficulty level with the chance of
the user to succeed, apps and games are engineered to
allow achievement (a personal sense of
“mastery”) while the app or game steadily raises the
stakes to keep the user actively engaged.
5. Use “cliffhangers” -- that is, unexpected
reward or some turn of events that the user
wasn’t expecting.
6. Make the app or device or site social:
people generally crave interaction with others and by
sharing in a level of interaction (in a game, among
posters to a social media site, etc.) users are rewarded.
Look over these six principles for engineering
BAs in the digital world.
Which
of these have you experienced personally?
What
personal examples can you give for any of these
principles in your own interaction with digital media?
Reference
Wilson, T. D., Reinhard, D. A., Westgate, E.
C., Gilbert, D. T., Ellebreck, N., Hahn, C., Brown, C.
L., & Shaked, A. (2014). Just think: The challenges
of the disengaged mind. Science, 345, 75-77. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.12508
The first version of this
page was posted on 3/17/2021
In real casinos on
slot machines, there are algorithms that allow the
machine to sense when the player is getting less
likely to play. The machine will then give the
player a “win” to encourage them to gamble more.
In various online games, players will get a
similar kind of unexpected “win” in order to keep
playing. 
Experiments
show students are willing to receive electrical shocks
rather than be bored. We want to be doing something!
Bluma
Zeigarnik
(1900-1998). Psychologist in the Soviet Union
Andrew Doan (2012) Hooked
on Games: The Lure and Cost of Video Game and
Internet Addiction.