Life / Maintaining moderation in digital devices Flashcards
What are the 2 types of behavioural conditioning? [Life of focus]
- Classical conditioning
2. Operant conditioning
What is classical conditioning? [Life of focus]
Chaining a cue (or a context) to a specific situation or behaviour.
Pavlov’s dog.
What is operant conditioning? [Life of focus]
Rewarding behaviours to reinforce them.
Dog training.
How do the 2 types of conditioning apply to digital distraction? [Life of focus]
First, you are reinforced by getting a dopamine hit when you get a message or check your phone.
Then, that behaviour is linked with the surrounding context.
- Are you bored when you check your phone?
- Are you waiting in line? etc
As a result, when you go back into this context, you’ll think to check your phone.
Why is it so easy to slide back when re-introducing distractions in moderation? [Life of focus]
Because while we may be limiting the amount of time, we are still doing the activity in the same context.
As a result, when this context returns, we will feel the temptation.
- You’ll condition yourself to seek distraction in that situation.
What is the better way to re-introduce digital activities in moderation? [Life of focus]
To do so in very controlled, limited contexts, and to avoid context/digital use pairings that would be the most harmful.
What are some examples of ways we can limit the context of our digital device use? [Life of focus]
- Restrict location (phone foyer method)
- Restrict device (e.g. only use youtube on my iPad)
- Restrict time (only use Instagram between 5-5:30)
NB: I think the time restriction is the least helpful.
How do we actually implement this sort of limited contexts for moderation with digital devices? [Life of focus]
1) Make it harder - tie yourself to the mast
- blockers
- 20 second rule
- Phone foyer
2) Minimise temptation
Limit reintroduction to very specific contexts
