by Adam Alter
The East Asian: On the Chinese and Korean approaches to Internet addiction treatment: Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia, Web Junkie, 2013; see also: Whitney Mallett, “Behind ‘Web Junkie,’ a Documentary about China’s Internet-Addicted Teens,” Motherboard, January 27, 2014, motherboard.vice.com/blog/behind-web-junkie-a-documentary-about-chinas-Internet-addicted-teens.
Kimberly Young, the: On Kimberly Young and her Internet Addiction Test: Test available at netaddiction.com/Internet-addiction-test; Kimberly S. Young, Caught in the Net: How to Recognize Signs of Internet Addiction—and a Winning Strategy for Recovery (John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1998); Kimberly S. Young, “Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 1, no. 3 (1998): 237–44; Laura Widyanto and Mary McMurran, “The Psychometric Properties of the Internet Addiction Test,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 7, no. 4 (2004): 443–50; Man Kit Chang and Sally Pui Man Law, “Factor Structure for Young’s Internet Addiction Test: A Confirmatory Study,” Computers in Human Behavior 24, no. 6 (September 2008): 2597–2619; Yasser Khazaal and others, “French Validation of the Internet Addiction Test,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 11, no. 6 (November 2008): 703–6; Steven Sek-yum Ngai, “Exploring the Validity of the Internet Addiction Test for Students in Grades 5–9 in Hong Kong,” International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 13, no. 3 (January 2007): 221–37; Kimberly S. Young, “Treatment Outcomes Using CBT-IA with Internet-Addicted Patients,” Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2, no. 4 (December 2013): 209–15.
Carrie Wilkens, cofounder: On motivational interviewing and Carrie Wilkens: Gabrielle Glaser, “A Different Path to Fighting Addiction,” New York Times, July 3, 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/nyregion/a-different-path-to-fighting-addiction.html; William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 3rd ed., (New York: Guilford Press, 2012); William R. Miller and Paula L. Wilbourne, “Mesa Grande: A Methodological Analysis of Clinical Trials of Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorders,” Addiction 97, no. 3 (March 2002): 265–77; Tracy O’Leary Tevyaw and Peter M. Monti, “Motivational Enhancement and Other Brief Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse: Foundations, Applications and Evaluations,” Addiction 99 (December 2004): 63–75; C. Dunn, L. Deroo, and F. P. Rivara, “The Use of Brief Interventions Adapted from Motivational Interviewing Across Behavioral Domains: A Systematic Review,” Addiction 96, no. 12 (December 2001): 1725–42; Craig S. Schwalbe, Hans Y. Oh, and Allen Zweben, “Sustaining Motivational Interviewing: A Meta-Analysis of Training Studies,” Addiction 109, 1287–94; Kate Hall and others, “After 30 Years of Dissemination, Have We Achieved Sustained Practice Change in Motivational Interviewing?,” Addiction (in press; a sample script is available here: careacttarget.org/sites/default/files/file-upload/resources/module5-handout1.pdf).
The technique’s effectiveness: Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, eds., Handbook of Self-Determination Research (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2002); Mark R. Lepper, David Greene, and Richard E. Nisbett, “Undermining Children’s Intrinsic Interest with Extrinsic Reward: A Test of the ‘Overjustification’ Hypothesis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 28 (1973): 129–37; Edward L. Deci, “Effects of Externally Mediated Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 18, no. 1 (April 1871): 105–15; Richard M. Ryan, “Psychological Needs and the Facilitation of Integrative Processes, Journal of Personality 63, no. 3 (September 1995): 397–427; Edward L. Deci, E. and Richard M. Ryan, “A Motivational Approach to Self: Integration in Personality,” in Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 38. Perspectives on Motivation, Richard A. Dienstbier, ed., (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1991), 237–88; Edward L. Deci, and Richard M. Ryan, “Human Autonomy: The Basis for True Self-Esteem,” in Efficacy, Agency, and Self-Esteem, Michael H. Kernis, ed., (New York: Springer, 1995); Roy F. Baumeister and Mark R. Leary, “The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments As a Fundamental Human Motivation,” Psychological Bulletin 117, no. 3 (May 1995): 497–529.
CHAPTER 11: HABITS AND ARCHITECTURE
In the United States, politics: Joseph M. Strayhorn and Jillian C. Strayhorn, “Religiosity and Teen Birth Rate in the United States,” Reproductive Health 6, no. 14 (September 2009): 1–7; Benjamin Edelman, “Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 23, no. 1 (Winter 2009): 209–20; Anna Freud, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (New York: Hogarth, 1936); Cara C. MacInnis and Gordon Hodson, “Do American States with More Religious or Conservative Populations Search More for Sexual Content on Google?,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 44 (2015): 137–47.
Feshbach and Singer: Much of the authors’ relevant research is contained in this book: Seymour Feshbach and Robert D. Singer, Television and Aggression: An Experimental Field Study (San Franciso: Jossey-Bass, 1971).
According to Wendy: Alina Tugend, “Turning a New Year’s Resolution into Action with the Facts,” New York Times, January 9, 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/your-money/some-facts-to-turn-your-new-years-resolutions-into-action.html.
Xianchi Dai and Ayelet Fishbach at: Xianchi Dai and Ayelet Fishbach, “How Nonconsumption Shapes Desire,” Journal of Consumer Research 41 (December 2014): 936–52.
A psychologist named Dan: Daniel M. Wegner, “Ironic Processes of Mental Control,” Psychological Review 101, no. 1 (1994): 34–52; Daniel M. Wegner and David J. Schneider, “The White Bear Story,” Psychological Inquiry 14, nos. 3–4 (2003): 326–29; Daniel M. Wegner, White Bears and Other Unwanted Thoughts: Suppression, Obsession, and the Psychology of Mental Control (New York: Viking, 1989); Daniel M. Wegner, David J. Schneider, Samuel R. Carter III, and Teri L. White, “Paradoxical Effects of Thought Suppression,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53, no. 1 (1987): 5–13.
The key to overcoming: On changing habits by replacement and distraction: Christos Kouimtsidis and others, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy in the Treatment of Addiction (Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2007); Charles Duhigg, “The Golden Rule of Habit Change,” PsychCentral, n.d., psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/07/17/the-golden-rule-of-habit-change; Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (New York: Random House, 2012); Melissa Dahl, “What If You Could Just ‘Forget’ to Bite Your Nails?,” New York, July 16, 2014, nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/07/what-if-you-could-forget-to-bite-your-nails.html.
An innovation agency: Background on the Realism device: www.realismsmartdevice.com/meet-realism; “Realism: An Alternative to Our Addiction to Smartphones,” Untitled Magazine, December 18, 2014, untitled-magazine.com/realism-an-alternative-to-our-addiction-to-smartphones/#.VorirVLqWPv.
The key is to work: On the importance of understanding genuine motivation: Paul Simpson, Assessing and Treating Compulsive Internet Use (Brentwood, TN: Cross Country Education, 2013); Kimberly Young and Cristiano Nabuco de Abreu, eds., Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2011).
Three quarters stick: On New Year’s resolution statistics, and habit formation and duration: www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics; John C. Norcross, Marci S. Mrykalo, and Matthew D. Blagys, “Auld Lang Syne: Success Predictors, Change Processes, and Self-Reported Outcomes of New Year’s Resolvers and Nonresolvers,” Journal of Clinical Psychology 58, no. 4 (April 2002): 397–405; Jeremy Dean, Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don’t, and How to Make Any Change Stick (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2013); Phillippa Lally, Cornelia H. M. van Jaarsveld, Henry W. W. Potts, and Jane Wardle, “How Are Habits Formed: Modelling Habit Formation in the Real World,” European Journal of Social Psychology 40, no. 6 (October 2010): 998–1009.
We know this works: Vanessa M. Patrick and Henrik Hagtvedt, “‘I Don’t’ versus ‘I Can’t’: When Empowered Refusal Motivates Goal-Directed Behavior,” Journal of Consumer Research 39 (2011), 371–81.
That’s the
idea behind the: The term “behavioral architecture” is from: Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008).
When World War II: This section contains excerpts from a piece I wrote for 99u: Adam L. Alter, “How to Build a Collaborative Office Space Like Pixar and Google,” n.d., 99u.com/articles/16408/how-to-build-a-collaborative-office-space-like-pixar-and-google; Leon Festinger, Kurt W. Back, and Stanley Schacter, Social Pressures in Informal Groups: A Study of Human Factors in Housing (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1950).
Rewards are a: On the power of loss aversion and motivation: Thomas C. Schelling, “Self-Command in Practice, in Policy, and in a Theory of Rational Choice, American Economic Review 74, no. 2 (1984): 1–11; Jan Kubanek, Lawrence H. Snyder, and Richard A. Abrams, “Reward and Punishment Act as Distinct Factors in Guiding Behavior,” Cognition 139 (June 2015): 154–67; Ronald G. Fryer, Steven D. Levitt, John List, and Sally Sadoff, “Enhancing the Efficacy of Teacher Incentives Through Loss Aversion: A Field Experiment,” Working Paper 18237, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, 2012; Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk,” Econometrica 47, no. 2 (March 1979): 263–92. Don’t Waste Your Money game: Paul Simpson, Assessing and Treating Compulsive Internet Use (Brentwood, TN: Cross Country Education, 2013). Relational spending: Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013).
Benjamin Grosser, a: The Facebook Demetricator site: bengrosser.com/projects/facebook-demetricator/.
If you understand: On binge-watching and overcoming the hook of the cliffhanger: Patrick Allan, “Overcome TV Show Binge-Watching with a Lesson in Plot,” Lifehacker, September, 29, 2014, lifehacker.com/overcome-tv-show-binge-watching-with-a-lesson-in-plot-1640472646; see also: Michael Hsu, “How to Overcome a Binge-Watching Addiction,” Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2014, www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-overcome-a-binge-watching-addiction-1411748602; this cliffhanger short-circuiting idea was originally inspired by Tom Meyvis, a colleague of mine at NYU, and Uri Simonsohn, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
For each show: Jacob Kastrenakes, “Netflix Knows the Exact Episode of a TV Show That Gets You Hooked,” The Verge, September 23, 2015, www.theverge.com/2015/9/23/9381509/netflix-hooked-tv-episode-analysis.
CHAPTER 12: GAMIFICATION
Volkswagen was releasing: Website for DDB’s Fun Theory campaign: www.thefuntheory.com; Cannes Awards announcement: www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ddbs-fun-theory-for-volkswagen-takes-home-cannes-cyber-grand-prix-97156119.html; video of the “Piano Stairs” experiment: Rolighetsteorin, “Piano Stairs: TheFunTheory.com,” YouTube, October 7, 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw.
A broad survey: Obesity data from the World Obesity Federation: www.worldobesity.org/resources/obesity-data-repository; Kaare Christensen, Gabriele Doblhammer, Roland Rau, and James W. Vaupel, “Ageing Populations: The Challenges Ahead,” Lancet 374, no. 9696 (October 2009): 1196–1208; John Bound, Michael Lovenheim, and Sarah Turner, “Why Have College Completion Rates Declined? An Analysis of Changing Student Preparation and Collegiate Resources,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2, no. 3 (July 2010): 129–57; Jeffrey Brainard and Andrea Fuller, “Graduation Rates Fall at One-Third of 4-Year Colleges,” Chronicle of Higher Education, December 5, 2010, chronicle.com/article/Graduation-Rates-Fall-at/125614; World Bank savings data: data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS; OECD savings data: data.oecd.org/hha/household-savings-forecast.htm; World Giving Index from the Charities Aid Foundation: www.cafonline.org/about-us/publications; report by National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education suggesting that the income of workforce expected to decline: www.highereducation.org/reports/pa_decline.
A computer programmer named John: On Breen and FreeRice: Michele Kelemen, “Net Game Boosts Vocabulary, Fights Hunger,” NPR, December 17, 2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17307572.
What DDB did: Background on gamification and examples: Kevin Werbach and Dan Hunter, For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business (Philadelphia, PA: Wharton Digital Press, 2012), 168–72; Nick Pelling explains the history of the term: Nick Pelling, “The (Short) Prehistory of ‘Gamificiation’ . . . ,” Funding Startups (& other impossibilities), Nanodome, April 9, 2011, nanodome.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/the-short-prehistory-of-gamification/; Dave McGinn, “Can a Couple of Reformed Gamers Make You Addicted to Exercise?” Globe and Mail, published November 13, 2011, last updated September 6, 2012, www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/fitness/can-a-couple-of-reformed-gamers-make-you-addicted-to-exercise/article4250755/; Fox Van Allen, “Sonicare Toothbrush App Proves Too Addicting for Kids,” Techlicious, September 16, 2015, www.techlicious.com/blog/philips-sonicare-for-kids-electric-toothbrush-app-sparkly/; Kate Kaye, “Internet of Toothbrushes: Sonicare Pipes Data Back to Philips,” AdvertisingAge, September 14, 2015, http://adage.com/article/datadriven-marketing/philips-connects-sonicare-kids-game-data-insights/300316.
Q2L was the: On Q2L, cognitive miserliness, and gamified education: Institute of Play, “Mission Pack: Dr. Smallz: Can You Save a Dying Patient’s Life?” 2014, www.instituteofplay.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/IOP_DR_SMALLZ_MISSION_PACK_v2.pdf; statistics on Q2L: Quest to Learn, “Research: Quest Learning Model Linked to Significant Learning Gains,” www.q2l.org/about/research; Rochester Institute of Technology, Just Press Play, RIT Interactive Games & Media, play.rit.edu/About; Traci Sitzmann, “A Meta-analytic Examination of the Instructional Effectiveness of Computer-Based Simulation Games,” Personnel Psychology 64, (May 2011): 489–528; Susan T. Fiske and Shelley E. Taylor, Social Cognition Second Edition (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991); Dean Takahashi, “Study Says Playing Videos Games Can Help You Do Your Job Better,” New York Times, December 1, 2010, www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2010/12/01/01venturebeat-study-says-playing-videos-games-can-help-you-76563.html.
After Rodney Smith: Yagana Shah, “Story of a 93-Year-Old and 2 Lawn Mowers Will Melt Your Heart,” Huffington Post, April 28, 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/story-of-a-93-year-old-and-2-lawn-mowers-will-melt-your-heart_us_572261aae4b0b49df6aab03d; more on the badge T-shirt system at: Facebook, Raising Men Lawn Care Services Michigan, post, May 21, 2016, www.facebook.com/282676205411413/photos/a.282689732076727.1073741828.282676205411413/282689718743395/.
The same properties: Emily A. Holmes, Ella L. James, Thomas Coode-Bate, and Catherine Deeprose, “Can Playing the Computer Game ‘Tetris’ Reduce the Build-Up of Flashbacks for Trauma? A Proposal from Cognitive Science” Plos One 4, January 7, 2009, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004153; “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): The Management of PTSD in Adults and Children in Primary and Secondary Care,” London National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2005, CG026; J. A. Anguera and others, “Video Game Training Enhances Cognitive Control in Older Adults,” Nature 501 (September 2013): 97–101; “Game Over? Federal Trade Commission Calls Brain-Training Claims Inflated,” January 8, 2016, ALZforum, www.alzforum.org/news/community-news/game-over-federal-trade-commission-calls-brain-training-claims-inflated; but note this statement from detractors: Stanford Center on Longevity and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, “A Consensus on the Brain Training Industry from the Scientific Community,” October 20, 2014, longevity3.stanford.edu/blog/2014/10/15/the-consensus-on-the-brain-training-industry-from-the-scientific-community; a classic paper that explains why gamification may rob people of the intrinsic drive to behave in ways that benefit them: Uri Gneezy and Aldo Rustichini, “A Fine Is a Price,” Journal of Legal Studies 29 (January 2000): 1–18.
Bogost demonstrated the: On Ian Bogost and Cow Clicker: The game’s site: cowclicker.com; Bogost’s own description of the game: bogost.com/writing/blog/cow_clicker_1/; see also: Jason Tanz, “The Curse of Cow Clicker: How a Ch
eeky Satire Became a Hit Game,” Wired, December 20, 2011, www.wired.com/2011/12/ff_cowclicker/all/1; interview with Bogost: NPR, “Cow Clicker Founder: If You Can’t Ruin It, Destroy It,” November 18, 2011, www.npr.org/2011/11/18/142518949/cow-clicker-founder-if-you-cant-ruin-it-destroy-it.
EPILOGUE
This is known as the: Oliver Burkeman, “This Column Will Change Your Life: The End-of-History Illusion,” Guardian, January 19, 2013, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/19/change-your-life-end-history; Jordi Quoidbach, Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson, “The End of History Illusion,” Science 339, no. 6115 (January 2013) 96–98.
INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
Acres, John, 135
Adams, Scott, 117
addiction
behavioral (See behavioral addiction)
environment and circumstance, role of, 4, 46–67
evolution of term, 29
memory and, 57–60
Peele’s definition of, 78
substance (See substance addiction)
Addiction by Design (Schüll), 155
addictive personality, 66
Alter, Sam, 243
“Always Leave Home Without It” (Prelec & Simester), 188
Amazon, 219
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 245, 246
American Express, 188
American Psychiatric Association (APA), 79, 80
Anderson, Chris, 2
Apple, 214, 215–16
Apple Watch, 185, 286