From Rats to Reels: How an Old Psychology Experiment Shaped Modern Mobile Addiction

It's midnight. You tell yourself "just one more video!"

30 minutes later, you're still scrolling.

If you're like me, then you probably wonder:

"Why do I keep scrolling even though I know it's a waste of time?"

I did some research and what I found surprised me.

It's all thanks to a psychology experiment from the 1930s involving some rats, a lever, and some pellets.

Confused? So was I.

Let me explain what I discovered...

So what exactly was this experiment?

It's known as the Skinner Box experiment. And it was surprisingly simple.

A rat was put in a box with a lever. Every time the rat pressed the lever, it got a food pellet.

At first, the rat would press the lever and get rewarded every single time. But then B.F. Skinner, the psychologist running the experiment, changed the rules.

He made the rewards random.

Sometimes the rat would press the lever and get a pellet. Sometimes it wouldn't. There was no pattern. No way to predict when the reward would come.

Here's where it gets interesting.

The rats became obsessed. They pressed the lever over and over again. Way more than when they got rewarded every time.

Why?

Because they never knew when the next reward was coming. The uncertainty made them addicted to trying.

You see, It's not just the reward that causes dopamine to be released in your brain. The expectation of a reward also causes a drip feed of dopamine. This reinforces the reward-seeking behaviour, in search of the big dopamine boost from the reward.

This is known as variable reinforcement.

Every time you scroll, you're pressing that lever.

Have you noticed how you'll see one good short video followed by 3 bad ones. Then you see another good one followed by another 10 bad ones. You keep scrolling mindlessly but you never know when the next good one is coming. So you keep scrolling and scrolling. Just like those rats kept pressing.

It's the Skinner Box in your pocket.

Your feed is unpredictable on purpose.

It's designed to condition you to keep scrolling.

The scroll is like the lever being pressed. Get a rubbish video and you get a drip of dopamine to keep you going, until eventually you get a great video that releases a big load of dopamine.

Then it starts again.

Scroll.

Drip.

Scroll.

Drip.

Until another big hit.

But that's not where it stops.

The for you page isn't specifically designed for your benefit. It's a bespoke cage made to keep you on the app.

The algorithm learns about you from the videos you watch and engage with. All so it can find which videos you're more likely to enjoy and get a dopamine boost from. Increase the chances of big dopamine releases with videos and you're more likely to continue scrolling.

Most people don't realise the truth behind modern social media. It's so insidious that it's hard to realise until you take a step back. Then you can see it for what it is.

There's a reason the apps are free. You're the product. Your attention. Your time. The more you give to the app, the more money they can make from advertising. The more their share price increases.

Now that you're aware of it, like me, you might be thinking how to break the shackles short form content has on you.

I've been experimenting with a few different techniques and this is what I've found helps.

I call it the 3 R's Framework.

Here it is:

1. Replace

The first thing you can do is to find a "healthier" alternative.

What's really helped me reduce the time I spend on social media is removing the apps from the home screen and putting a "healthier" alternative in its place. I noticed a lot of the time I opened the social apps was due to habit. My thumb would mindlessly go towards the app icon and open it up. Once it was open, I was locked in.

What's worked for me is replacing the social media apps with alternatives like Kindle, Readwise and Deepstash. This has helped me spend more time reading and waste less scrolling.

2. Rules

The second thing you need to do is become intentional about how you use it. You need to create rules around social media use.

Limit the use at certain times of the day. I've been experimenting with having a rule of no social media use while working. But you could extend this to no social media use until 7pm.

Since I've been following my rule, I've noticed my focus is better, I'm calmer, and less reactive.

3. Restrict

The final thing you need to do is restrict how much you use social media.

I've found it helpful to use a timer to set a limit on how much I use social media. I tried telling myself I would stop scrolling after 10 minutes. But that was a lie. I'd lose track of time and before I know it, 30 minutes have been wasted and I've got nothing to show for it.

What's worked for me is setting a 10 minute timer on my phone before I open any social media app.

If you struggle with restricting your social media use, this might help.

Awareness is the first step. Intention is the second.

You can't fix a problem until you become aware of it.

It's only once you're aware of the problem that you can take intentional steps to solve it.

That's what I've found is working for me.

Since realising the sinister implications of the way social media is nowadays, I'm a lot more intentional about how I use it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not perfect. I still make mistakes with it. I still fall into its trap.

But that's ok. I'm human.

When this happens, it's important to remind yourself of the goal. Being intentional, consistently. Because being consistent with it is more important than perfection.

I might slip up a few times.

But as long as I'm making long-term progress towards being more intentional then that's all that matters.

Remember, social media is a tool. And like any tool, how you use it depends on your intention.

So ask yourself:

Are you going to take ownership of it?

Or let it take ownership of you?