NO TURNING BACK, UNLESS… –
Feb. 22, 2023 – How do they keep us addicted? They rely on dopamine—the “reward hormone.” Like Pavlov’s dogs, we anticipate a reward when we hear something associated with it, like a notification sound, and respond accordingly. Dopamine levels can be twice as high when anticipating a reward as when actually receiving it. And dopamine is involved in our ability to focus, plan ahead and decide on actions. So controlling our dopamine means controlling our behavior.
Psychologist B.F. Skinner showed that unpredictable rewards are more addictive than predictable ones. He gave mice treats for pressing levers, and the ones who sometimes got a bigger treat and sometimes got no treat at all pressed the levers more compulsively than the ones who got the same treat every time.
Predictable rewards build tolerance; the brain releases dopamine for unexpected rewards. The link to smartphone games and slot machines is evident. Compulsively checking for new messages is also an example of this effect: Sometimes there aren’t any, and sometimes there’s a particularly exciting one.
