Why screens demand so much of our attention
There are two basic reasons why screen time is in such high demand, the first simply being that it is easy, other types of entertainment like board games, outdoor activities, social gathering, etc take a certain level of work on our part to happen whereas screen time provides limitless entertainment at the touch of a button or the swipe of a finger. Screen time makes no demands, just press a button and you can be mindlessly entertained for hours and hours, no work or effort involved.
Besides being easy, screen time, (especially on a phone or an ipad) gives us a hit of the neurochemical called dopamine. Historically the brain releases dopamine as a result of a behavior that in the most fundamental way ensures survival of our species. The prime example of this is eating. When we used to have to hunt or forage for our food, our brain would dish out small doses of dopamine to help us stay focused on the task in front of us, helping us get to the goal of eating the food. Upon eating the food the brain would give out a larger amount of dopamine to reward us for the hard work we did to achieve the goal. This system works well for any goal we’re trying to achieve, dosing out small amounts of dopamine as we hit milestones and finally rewarding us with a larger dose when we achieve the goal. Dopamine is extremely addictive on purpose, if we did not eat and perform other tasks that allowed us to survive as a species, we would have never made it to where we are today.
Unfortunately, today most of us do not hunt or forage for every meal which leaves our dopamine system subjected to many things that are obviously not entered into the evolutionary equation and certainly DO NOT ensure our survival. Classic examples of dopamine additions include gambling, cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, shopping, and yes our devices. Every chirp, ring, and buzz of our devices whether it be a news alert, email, text message, or social media likes all give our brain a little dopamine boost as we are alerted to that “something for me” call to attention. Whether or not you like email, text, social media, etc, the little ding followed by an icon indicating that there is something new for you is pretty much irresistible to your brain looking for that next chemical rush of dopamine.
A University of Texas study looked at three groups of volunteers who were asked to put their phones on silent while they took a cognitive test. The first group kept their phones in a separate room, the second group put their phones in their pocket or purse, the third group kept their phones with them on the table. The result, group one scored the highest on the test, group two performed worse than group one, and group three performed the worst overall. The researchers concluded that the distraction of the phones nearby actually draws your attention away from more important tasks and raises your stress levels as you fight the urge to look at your phone. Even if your phone is on silent in your pocket, your brain is still taking away from your capacity to perform optimally like having a small leak in your tire that is slowly draining pressure.
The mechanism of any addiction is the same as any habit, there is a cue, routine, reward loop that spurs the compulsion on in an endless loop. The device buzzes, you check the email, text, post, then you receive a little dose of dopamine. It's gotten so programmed by this point that we don’t even need the ding, our brain just has to tell us that we’re bored and we’ll pick up the device to search out an interactive behavior on the device to end the boredom, and get the reward of entertainment. It’s such a tight, fast, coordinated feedback loop that the habit is ingrained quickly without even recognizing it as an addictive behavior. And what’s worse is that it is quick, reliable, and repeatable. Look up from your own device to all those around you next time you are out in public, you’ll see it clear as day.
Stay tuned, next week we’ll discuss the ways that companies have evolved to keep you engaged on your screens.
