Chapter 7 Quiz: Dopamine Loops

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

1. According to the research of Kent Berridge at the University of Michigan, dopamine is primarily associated with which psychological state?

A) Pleasure and satisfaction after receiving a reward B) Wanting and anticipation of reward, independent of actual enjoyment C) Memory consolidation and the ability to recall rewarding experiences D) The reduction of stress and anxiety following social interaction

2. Which neurotransmitter system is most directly associated with the actual hedonic experience of pleasure ("liking"), as distinct from wanting?

A) Dopamine B) Norepinephrine C) Endogenous opioids and endocannabinoids D) Glutamate

3. The mesolimbic pathway originates in which brain region?

A) Nucleus accumbens B) Prefrontal cortex C) Ventral tegmental area (VTA) D) Hippocampus

4. A 2016 UCLA study by Lauren Sherman and colleagues used functional MRI to show that adolescents' nucleus accumbens was activated by:

A) Playing video games with increasing difficulty levels B) Viewing images with higher like counts on a simulated social media platform C) Receiving direct messages from close friends D) Scrolling through feeds of content they had personally selected

5. In Berridge's rat experiments, when dopamine neurons were selectively disabled, what happened to the rats' behavior?

A) They stopped liking food when it was placed in their mouths B) They continued to seek food but showed reduced pleasure responses C) They stopped pursuing food but still showed pleasure responses when food was placed in their mouths D) They became more aggressive in competing for food resources

6. Which reinforcement schedule produces the highest response rates and the greatest resistance to extinction?

A) Fixed ratio schedule B) Fixed interval schedule C) Variable interval schedule D) Variable ratio schedule

7. On a variable ratio reinforcement schedule, the reward is delivered:

A) After a fixed number of responses, every time B) After a fixed amount of time has elapsed C) After an unpredictable number of responses, with no pattern D) Only when the organism explicitly signals readiness to receive it

8. The pull-to-refresh gesture was invented by:

A) Aza Raskin B) Justin Rosenstein C) Loren Brichter D) Sean Parker

9. The "extinction resistance" property of variable ratio conditioning is significant for social media use because:

A) It explains why users enjoy social media more over time B) It explains why users find it difficult to stop checking platforms even when they expect no reward C) It demonstrates that platforms can train users to check less frequently D) It shows that frequent rewards are necessary to maintain habitual use

10. Aza Raskin, who invented infinite scroll, estimated that this design feature was responsible for approximately how many extra hours of scrolling per day globally?

A) 20,000 B) 100,000 C) 200,000 D) 500,000

11. The term "incentive salience" refers to:

A) The biochemical process of dopamine synthesis in the VTA B) The property that makes a stimulus feel worth pursuing, regardless of actual hedonic value C) The degree to which a reward satisfies biological needs D) The measurement of how quickly dopamine is cleared from synapses

12. According to Sean Parker's 2017 statements about Facebook's design:

A) The company was unaware of the dopaminergic effects of the like feature B) The like feature was understood as a "social-validation feedback loop" that exploited human psychology C) Early Facebook engineers were forbidden from studying behavioral science D) The engagement metrics Facebook used were designed to measure user satisfaction, not time spent

13. The difference between a paginated feed and infinite scroll is behaviorally significant primarily because:

A) Infinite scroll delivers higher-quality content than paginated feeds B) Paginated feeds trigger more dopamine response per item viewed C) Infinite scroll removes the natural stopping points at which users might choose to disengage D) Paginated feeds are more likely to show content from close friends

14. A 2018 study by Adrian Ward and colleagues found that the mere presence of a smartphone on a desk (face down, not in use) affected users by:

A) Reducing stress levels due to the availability of social support B) Improving performance on creative tasks through ambient stimulation C) Reducing cognitive performance, with larger effects for higher smartphone dependence D) Having no measurable effect on cognitive performance in controlled conditions

15. The relationship between serotonin and dopamine in the context of social media use is best described as:

A) Both neurotransmitters drive the same compulsive checking behaviors B) Serotonin drives wanting and seeking; dopamine drives satisfaction C) Dopamine drives wanting and seeking; serotonin is more associated with contentment and satisfaction D) The two systems operate completely independently with no meaningful interaction

16. In evolutionary terms, the human brain's susceptibility to variable ratio conditioning exists because:

A) Early humans were exposed to casino-like environments that selected for this response B) In ancestral environments, resources were genuinely unpredictable, and persistent seeking was adaptive C) Social approval was always available on a fixed schedule in ancestral communities D) The dopamine system evolved primarily to process information rather than motivate behavior

17. Research on notification timing by platform optimization teams has found that the most effective time to send notifications for maximum open rates is:

A) Between 1 and 3 p.m., when users take afternoon breaks B) During commute hours when users are passively traveling C) Early morning (6–8 a.m.) when executive function is lowest D) Late afternoon when users have completed primary work tasks

18. The A/B testing practices of social media platforms are primarily oriented toward optimizing:

A) User satisfaction as measured by self-reported happiness B) Content quality as measured by expert review C) Behavioral engagement metrics such as time spent, click-through, and session frequency D) Health outcomes as measured by standardized well-being scales

19. Which of the following best describes the "principal-agent problem" as it applies to the Velocity Media scenario?

A) Marcus Webb lacks the technical knowledge to evaluate Dr. Johnson's ethics concerns B) Webb's performance is evaluated on engagement metrics, creating structural incentives to favor engagement over ethics C) Sarah Chen has not provided clear guidance on how to resolve conflicts between product and ethics teams D) The ethics team at Velocity Media has no formal authority to block product decisions

20. The MIT Media Lab study by Sinan Aral and colleagues found that on Twitter, false news stories:

A) Were shared less often than true stories but persisted longer in feeds B) Spread faster and reached more people than true stories, driven by emotional novelty C) Were spread primarily by automated bots rather than human users D) Were indistinguishable from true stories in terms of sharing patterns

21. Research by Kostadin Kushlev and Elizabeth Dunn on email checking found that:

A) Checking email continuously throughout the day reduces stress compared to batching checks B) The frequency of email checking had no measurable effect on stress or mood C) Checking email less frequently reduced stress and improved mood compared to continuous checking D) Email checking primarily affects sleep quality rather than daytime stress levels

22. When the chapter states that platforms are "dopamine machines rather than serotonin machines," it is making the claim that:

A) Platforms artificially increase dopamine levels through chemical means B) Platform design is optimized for sustained wanting and engagement rather than contentment and satisfaction C) The neurotransmitter serotonin is not activated during social media use D) Users who feel satisfied after using social media are experiencing a pathological serotonin response

Chapter 7 Quiz: Dopamine Loops

Answer Key