Chapter 3 Quiz: What Is Algorithmic Addiction?

Instructions: Choose the best answer for each question. The answer key appears at the end.

1. According to the chapter, which of the following best describes the clinical basis for the claim that behavioral (non-substance) addictions are real?

A) Behavioral addictions were officially recognized in the DSM-5 based on patient self-report surveys conducted across 50 countries B) The DSM-5 recognized Gambling Disorder as an addictive disorder because it shows the same behavioral and neurological profile as substance use disorders, despite the absence of a pharmacological agent C) Behavioral addictions were recognized in the DSM-5 after decades of debate were resolved by a 2012 international consensus statement from psychiatry associations D) The term "behavioral addiction" was invented by digital health researchers studying social media use in 2015 and has not yet received formal clinical recognition

2. The chapter defines the spectrum of social media use as moving from habitual use to problematic use to addiction. Which of the following is the key criterion that distinguishes problematic use from addiction?

A) The amount of time spent on social media per day B) Whether the user experiences negative emotions after social media use C) Loss of control — the inability to modify use through ordinary acts of will despite genuine desire to do so D) Whether the user's use has been criticized by friends or family members

3. B.F. Skinner's research on reinforcement schedules is relevant to social media design primarily because:

A) He demonstrated that humans are entirely rational decision-makers who respond predictably to consistent rewards B) He showed that variable ratio reinforcement schedules — in which rewards are unpredictable — are the most powerful for maintaining behavior C) He developed the first neuroimaging techniques that revealed how dopamine functions in the reward system D) He argued that all addictive behavior is learned through social reinforcement from peers rather than from technology design

4. According to the chapter's description of adolescent neurodevelopment, which of the following is NOT a feature of the typical adolescent brain that creates vulnerability to social media's engagement mechanisms?

A) Heightened reward sensitivity, particularly to social rewards B) Relative immaturity of prefrontal cortex systems responsible for impulse control C) Reduced sensitivity to peer evaluation and social status compared to adults D) Heightened sensitivity to peer evaluation and social status

5. Sean Parker, Facebook's founding president, described the platform's design as:

A) An unintended side effect of features designed to improve user connection and communication B) A deliberate exploitation of "a vulnerability in human psychology" through a social-validation feedback loop C) A response to user demand for more engaging content that had nothing to do with addiction D) A neutral technological tool whose effects on users were unknown to platform designers at the time

6. The chapter's Persuasion Stack framework identifies five layers of causation. Which layer is described as "the specific design decisions, interface choices, and algorithmic systems that operationalize the persuasion"?

A) The biological layer B) The psychological layer C) The social layer D) The technological layer

7. According to the chapter, the dopamine "hit" metaphor for social media engagement is:

A) Accurate and complete: social media works exactly like drugs by flooding the brain with dopamine B) Not wrong but oversimplified: dopamine functions more as a prediction error signal, particularly responsive to unpredictability and novelty C) Completely inaccurate: social media does not involve dopamine release at all D) Accurate for adolescents but not for adults, whose dopamine systems are fully mature

8. Aza Raskin is cited in the chapter in relation to:

A) The design of the Like button and its variable reward mechanism B) The development of the keyword auction model at Google C) The design of infinite scroll and his estimate that it causes significantly more time spent on social media than stopping cues would allow D) The whistleblower documents revealing Facebook's internal research on teen mental health

9. The chapter's definition of "algorithmic addiction" distinguishes it from general social media or technology addiction primarily by:

A) Its severity — algorithmic addiction is defined as more severe than ordinary social media use disorder B) Its causal emphasis on deliberate platform design features that exploit neurological vulnerabilities C) Its age restriction — algorithmic addiction applies only to users under 18 who have not fully developed impulse control D) Its legal definition — algorithmic addiction is defined by the regulatory frameworks of the EU Digital Services Act

10. According to the chapter, what did the Frances Haugen documents primarily reveal?

A) That Facebook's engineers were unaware of any negative effects of Instagram on teenage users B) That Facebook had internal research documenting harms — particularly Instagram's effects on teenage girls' mental health — and did not act on it in ways that would meaningfully reduce engagement C) That Instagram was deliberately designed to cause body image issues in teenage girls as a marketing strategy to sell beauty products D) That Facebook's internal research showed no significant negative effects of social media on teen mental health, contradicting external research

11. The chapter discusses the concept of social rewards in the context of the human brain's reward system. Social rewards are defined as:

A) Monetary incentives distributed through social media platforms to users who achieve viral content B) Approval, recognition, belonging, and social comparison signals that are among the most powerful rewards available to the human reward system C) The financial benefits that accrue to users who successfully monetize their social media presence D) The evolutionary advantage gained by individuals who successfully communicate with large social groups

12. The WHO's ICD-11, published in 2019, is significant for this chapter because it:

A) Formally classified "Social Media Use Disorder" as a diagnosable mental health condition B) Formally classified Gaming Disorder as a diagnostic category, establishing an important precedent for behavioral addiction recognition C) Reversed the DSM-5's recognition of Gambling Disorder as a behavioral addiction based on new neuroimaging evidence D) Established international standards for platform design that limit the use of variable reward mechanics

13. The chapter describes the variable-delay notification feature that Velocity Media's Marcus Webb proposes to ship. The psychological mechanism this feature exploits is:

A) Classical conditioning — pairing the notification sound with positive social content over time B) Social comparison — making users aware that peers are posting content while they are not C) Uncertainty and social anxiety — creating a period of unknown social response that drives repeated platform checking D) Loss aversion — making users afraid of missing important social updates

14. According to the chapter, the economic layer of the Persuasion Stack refers to:

A) The financial situation of individual users and how their economic circumstances affect platform use B) The advertising-supported business model that creates incentives to maximize engagement regardless of effects on user wellbeing C) The revenue generated by social media companies from premium subscription tiers D) The economic value that users derive from social media in terms of professional networking and opportunities

15. The chapter argues that the most appropriate response to algorithmic addiction requires intervention at which level?

A) Only the individual level, through education and digital literacy programs B) Only the regulatory level, through government mandates and platform liability C) Only the technological level, through platform design changes D) Multiple levels — both individual and structural — because no single layer of the Persuasion Stack is alone responsible

16. The concept of "informed consent" is discussed in the chapter in relation to:

A) The requirement that platforms obtain parental consent before collecting data on users under 13 B) The largely absent practice of informing users about the specific psychological techniques being deployed on them through platform design C) The legal requirement for platforms to disclose their algorithmic ranking criteria to regulators D) The informed consent procedures used in academic research studies on social media use

17. According to the chapter's account of the Velocity Media ethics review, which of the following best describes why the notification feature was ultimately shipped despite Dr. Johnson's objections?

A) Johnson's objections were found to be scientifically unsupported by the research team B) User feedback from beta testing showed that users preferred the variable-delay notification format C) CEO Chen chose to ship the feature, noting Johnson's concerns but subordinating them to engagement metrics and revenue considerations D) Regulatory requirements mandated that Velocity deliver notifications in this way to reduce notification overload

18. The chapter states that social media platforms may engage all of the following neurological systems EXCEPT:

A) The brain's reward circuits, particularly dopaminergic signaling B) Social cognition systems that monitor social standing and peer evaluation C) Threat-detection mechanisms, particularly in response to social exclusion signals D) Language processing centers in the left hemisphere, which are uniquely activated by social media text posts

19. The chapter distinguishes "algorithmic addiction" from the general concept of "technology addiction" primarily by:

A) The type of content consumed — video content is more addictive than text content B) The platform's scale — only platforms with more than 100 million users produce true algorithmic addiction C) The causal role of algorithmic optimization — systems trained to maximize engagement by exploiting neurological vulnerabilities D) The user's age — the term only applies to users who began using social media before age 16

20. A 2019 meta-analysis cited in the chapter estimated the prevalence of problematic social media use at approximately:

A) Less than 1% of social media users B) 5% of social media users C) 20% of social media users D) 40% of social media users

21. The chapter's account of the gap between Facebook's internal research and its public communications about Instagram's effects on teen mental health primarily illustrates which of the chapter's key concepts?

A) The Persuasion Stack's social layer — how peer pressure among teenagers amplifies platform effects B) The gap between intent and effect — platform engineers did not intend to cause harm but internal research documented it C) The principle of informed consent — Facebook failed to share research with users who had a right to know D) Both B and C — the documents reveal both the intent-effect gap and a consent problem, and the chapter uses them to make both points

22. Which of the following statements best captures the chapter's overall position on the "responsibility question" — who bears responsibility for algorithmic addiction?

A) Platforms bear full responsibility because they deliberately engineer compulsive use through features they design and control B) Individual users bear full responsibility because they are adults (or, in the case of minors, their parents are responsible) and can choose how to use technology C) Responsibility is distributed across multiple levels — individual users have real agency, platforms have real power, and effective response requires engaging both individual and structural levels D) Governments bear full responsibility for failing to regulate platforms earlier and more stringently

Answer Key

1. B
2. C
3. B
4. C
5. B
6. D
7. B
8. C
9. B
10. B
11. B
12. B
13. C
14. B
15. D
16. B
17. C
18. D
19. C
20. B
21. D
22. C