The Science of Compulsive Online Behavior | Mary Aiken | Big Think

The Science of Compulsive Online Behavior
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The average person checks their phone 200 times a day. It borders on addiction for some, but according to cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken there are easy ways to unlearn this compulsion.The internet is so great, isn’t it? It’s hit, after hit, after hit of quality visuals, stories and encounters. Or is it? Cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken is here to remind us of fading affect bias, which is where negative emotion associated with unpleasant memories fade much faster than positive experiences. This is why gamblers are always so quick to talk about how much they’ve won over the years, with no mention (or memory) of what they’ve lost.
According to Aiken, the internet is a giant slot machine, and all the average and boring material we scroll past is negated by that one incredible piece of news, that high feeling when you find a belly-aching funny video, making the search worthwhile. Already you’re getting hyped up for the next great find in the sea of hit and miss. The average person checks their cell phone 200 times per day. That’s an astounding figure, and it sounds an awful lot like an addiction, but Aiken is reluctant to label it that way, because the treatment that usually works for addiction – abstinence – will never work for the internet. We rely on technology for our jobs, relationships, and basic needs. It’s here to stay. So how do we balance our days so that we aren’t servants to the the technology that designed to serve us?
Aiken identifies this compulsive checking as a maladaptive behavior, and the good news about that is it’s a pattern that can be broken – just like you can resist scratching a mosquito bite with enough focus, or can slow your breathing when you’re overcome with nerves, with some awareness and intention, you can put your phone away for the duration of a film without opening your notifications. As an experiment, count for one day to see how many times you go to check your phone, and actively try to reduce it.
Mary Aiken's most recent book is The Cyber Effect: A Pioneering Cyberpsychologist Explains How Human Behavior Changes Online
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MARY AIKEN :
Mary Aiken specializes in the impact of technology on human behaviour, and has written extensively on issues relating to the intersection between humankind and technology — or as she describes it "where humans and technology collide." She appears regularly on radio and television and frequently gives talks to the public and private sector on an international basis. Dr. Mary Aiken is an Adjunct Associate Professor at University College Dublin, Geary Institute for Public Policy, and Academic Advisor (Psychology) to the European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3) at Europol. She is a lecturer in Criminology and Research Fellow at the School of Law, Middlesex University, a Fellow of the Society for Chartered IT Professionals, a Sensemaking Fellow at the IBM Network Science Research Centre, and Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Cyber Analytics at AIRS Hawaii Pacific University. She is a member of the Hague Justice Portal advisory board and Director of the Cyberpsychology Research Network. Her groundbreaking work inspired the CBS television series "CSI: Cyber."
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TRANSCRIPT :
Mary Aiken: Do you know that the average person checks their cell phone 200 times a day. And when actually they come home from work cell phone checking increases. So why is that? People talk about internet addiction. Let me explain the science behind it. Very bold ratio and intermittent reinforcement aspects of technology. What does that mean? It means that technology and the internet particularly is like a giant slot machine. Every so often you hit something great. You find a great link, a great website. Every so often you get a brilliant email praise from your boss. Or that text that you’ve been waiting for. And that is far more addictive than if every piece of communication was positive or if every piece was negative. So technology can actually target our developmental Achilles heel. It can elicit negative behavior. People call it internet addiction. I’m not somebody who believes in internet addiction. Why? You cannot be addicted to air. You cannot be addicted to water. Technology is here to stay.
You would not be able to live or get a job or survive without at some stage engaging with technology. I’m a cyberpsychologist. I couldn’t do my job without access to the internet.
Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/mary-aike...