So, last night, I was searching the world-wide interweb for the popular game 2048, as I wanted to partake in the pleasure of playing this wildly addictive game. While my page loaded, I stumbled (yes, Lily, stumbled) upon an interesting article describing the addictive nature of the game. For all of you who are unfamiliar with this game, the concept/objective is to match numbers until you achieve the sum of a 2048 tile, hence the 2048. For all of those who do play the game, you are probably familiar with the overwhelming desire to achieve this tile. Anywho, a neurologist by the name of Judy Willis (who is also an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at University of California, Santa Barbara), explains the science of our addictions, and it has to do with our friend, dopamine.
We were first introduced to dopamine, one of the most well-known neurotransmitters, in Chapter 3A. Dopamine is responsible for the regulation of motor activity, motivation, and pleasure. Low levels of dopamine result in Parkinson's disease and in high levels, schizophrenia ensues. Addictive drugs can also stimulate the dopamine pathway, while antipsychotic drugs such as Chlorpromazine and Thorazine block receptor sites so excess dopamine can't be used. This may prevent the hallucinations and paranoia (positive symptoms) of schizophrenia. Clozapine, another antipsychotic drug, helps with regulating both the serotonin and dopamine receptors and can alleviate some of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
So, how does this relate to 2048? Well, my friends, as aforementioned, dopamine is responsible for a multitude of things, but when it builds up, the brain goes into hyperdrive. "Dopamine is the one of the most compelling neurochemicals—and the most addictive drugs—that we know of," Willis explains. Dopamine increases pleasure and perseverance while minimizing stress. Even something seemingly insignificant, such as winning a bet, can boost your dopamine levels.
In the realm of 2048, it offers us the following two dopamine enhancers. The first is the power of prediction. The brain takes great delight in making predictions, and in 2048, the brain is given every opportunity to do so. Willis brings in several studies conducted by James Paul Gee, which have discovered that predictions still result in a dopamine boost at an 80 percent fail rate—which means that even if you manage to make a mess of your 2048 scoreboard eight times out of ten, your brain will still demand that you continue playing. The effects of dopamine guarantee that even when you do not succeed in reaching 2048, you'll remain relatively calm about it. "Instead of being stressed out, the brain is so comfortable that it doesn't want to quit," Willis remarks.
The second is an achievable challenge: If a game is too easy or too difficult, dopamine levels stop flowing at this high rate. "For the optimal boost," Willis says, "a game needs to be challenging but beatable. 'Achievable challenge' are the key words. That's what will give you the biggest dopamine boost." Therefore, 2048 is challenging, yet possible, so we continue to play.
What do you think of this? Is dopamine really the cause of our "addiction" to 2048? If not, what other factors might be involved? And on a side note, what is your high score?
Here is the link to the article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/video-games/why-the-2048-game-is-so-addictive-16659899
Well, after reading this highly interesting blog post, I now think that dopamine could definitely be a factor in the obsession over this game. It's weird to think that something as scientific as a neurotransmitter is involved with our most trivial day-to-day activities. I think other factors definitely tie into the obsession as well, such as competition. You hear that others have played and are trying to beat it, and all of a sudden you are taken over by the drive to beat the game first or with a better high score. This could be related to the optimum level of arousal theory of motivation, as the task isn't too hard, and the arousal is just right. Also, my high score is 16692. I haven't gotten to 2048 though :(
ReplyDeleteNoga, awesome blog. Shani raises some excellent points as to other factors that would play into one's addiction to 2048. Competition and optimum level of arousal are most definitely huge factors in this -- I can guarantee that somewhere around 99.9% (not scientifically proven) of Sarah Broniscers who played the game went back for a second round because they heard that someone else had gotten a higher score. It's interesting to see the concepts of social psychology at work in something as trivial as a game.
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