But wouldn't we have to eliminate meaningful texts as well to get extinction? Otherwise, we're just contributing to the reinforcement of more persistent behaviour (i.e., responding to texts for the increasingly infrequent reinforcements).
Jim Jim Clark Professor & Chair of Psychology 204-786-9757 4L41A -----Original Message----- From: Michael Britt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 12:48 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Texting While Driving We know that many, many people text when they drive (not me, of course ;). Here’s a quote from an article with one (or two) explanations: ------- “There’s a huge discrepancy between attitude and behavior,” says David Greenfield, a University of Connecticut Medical School professor who led the study. The lure of text messages is actually a lot like the appeal of slot machines, Greenfield explains: both can be difficult compulsions to overcome for some people. The buzz of an incoming text message causes the release of dopamine in the brain, which generates excitement, Greenfield says. If the message turns out to be from someone appealing, even more dopamine is released. ——— I don’t know about the “dopamine release” idea (another of those “let’s drop a little neuroscience into the article to get more credibility”), but if we focus instead on the analogy to gambling, then isn’t our inability to resist a text message an example of variable ratio reinforcement - you never know when one of them is going to contain a “reward” from a friend. And if that’s the case then all we need to do is…(a little in jest here of course)…make the phone ping with incoming texts that contain either no content or useless content. Eventually the behavior of responding to the texts will be extinguished. At least theoretically. Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. [email protected] http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: @mbritt --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=40057 or send a blank email to leave-40057-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=40065 or send a blank email to leave-40065-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
