Chapter 8 Exercises: Reward Prediction Error and Anticipation

Reflection Prompts

1. [Reflection] Mapping Your Prediction Loop Think about the last time you felt a strong urge to check your phone without any external trigger. Describe the internal experience as precisely as you can: Was there a specific thought about what might be on the phone? A diffuse sense of unease? A physical sensation? Now map this experience onto the reward prediction error framework. What does the RPE model predict you would experience when a conditioned reward predictor (the phone) is present but the reward is unretrieved? How well does the model describe your actual experience?

2. [Reflection] The Streak Attachment Inventory If you use Snapchat or any platform with streak mechanics, make a list of every streak you currently maintain. For each streak: How long is it? How much would it bother you to lose it? Have you ever maintained a streak with someone you were not actively close to simply because the streak existed? Write a 300-word reflection on what your streak behaviors reveal about the relationship between artificial behavioral mechanics and genuine social connection.

3. [Reflection] The Anticipation Journal For three days, keep a log of every instance in which you experienced anticipatory feelings about social media — the feeling of wanting to check before you actually checked. Note the time, the context (what you were doing), the strength of the urge on a 1–10 scale, and whether you acted on it. At the end of three days, analyze the patterns: Are there times of day when anticipation is strongest? Contexts that trigger it? What does this reveal about your conditioned prediction loops?

4. [Reflection] The Phantom Vibration Experience Have you ever experienced phantom phone vibrations — the sensation that your phone vibrated when it hadn't? When did it first happen? How often does it occur? What does the experience feel like in the moment versus when you realize the phone didn't vibrate? Write a 250-word reflection connecting your experience to the chapter's discussion of conditioned anticipatory responses.

5. [Reflection] Prediction Error and Posting Think about the last time you posted something on social media that performed much better than you expected — far more likes, comments, or shares than you had anticipated. Describe your internal experience in the hours after you discovered the positive surprise. Then think about a post that performed worse than expected. Compare the two experiences in terms of intensity and duration. Does this map onto what you'd expect from the reward prediction error framework?

Research Tasks

6. [Research] Reading Schultz Find and read the abstract and introduction of Wolfram Schultz's 1997 paper "A Neural Substrate of Prediction and Reward" in Science (Volume 275, pages 1593–1599). Write a 400-word summary of the experimental design, the key findings, and their implications for understanding human behavior. Then write a 200-word reflection on the relevance of monkey dopamine research to human social media use.

7. [Research] Temporal Difference Learning Research temporal difference (TD) learning, the computational framework that models how the brain's RPE signal functions. Find one accessible explanation (perhaps from a computer science or neuroscience textbook, or a reputable online source) and one more technical source. Write a 400-word explanation of TD learning that is accessible to a non-technical reader, explaining what it is, how it works, and why it matters for understanding social media engagement.

8. [Research] The Email Literature Find and read at least two academic papers on email notification behavior and its cognitive and psychological effects. Gloria Mark's research from UC Irvine is a good starting point. Write a 500-word synthesis of the literature on email notification behavior, identifying the key findings about checking frequency, cognitive cost, and the anticipatory dynamics of email use. Then analyze the implications for social media notification behavior.

9. [Research] Snapchat Streak Psychology Research the academic and journalistic literature on Snapchat streak behavior. Find at least two sources (at least one academic or empirical) that examine how the streak mechanic affects behavior. Write a 500-word analysis of the behavioral mechanisms documented in these sources, connecting them to the chapter's framework of RPE and loss aversion.

10. [Research] Phantom Phone Vibrations Research phantom phone vibration syndrome, also called "ringxiety" or "phantom ringing." Find the primary research on prevalence rates and identify which variables (phone use frequency, age, personality factors) are associated with higher rates of phantom vibrations. Write a 400-word report on what the research shows and how it supports the chapter's claim that conditioned anticipatory responses operate below conscious control.

11. [Research] Content Escalation Evidence Research the evidence for the content escalation dynamic described in the chapter — the claim that recommendation algorithms tend to amplify increasingly extreme content over time. Find at least two empirical sources (studies, investigative journalism with documented evidence, or platform internal research that has become public). Write a 400-word analysis of the evidence and what it implies for information quality on engagement-optimized platforms.

Analysis Exercises

12. [Analysis] The Notification Architecture Map Spend one hour carefully examining the notification settings of your most-used social media app. Document every type of notification the app can send. For each type, analyze: What potential reward does this notification predict? How variable is the reward? How urgent does the notification presentation make it feel? Create a visual map or chart of the notification architecture and write a 300-word analysis of how it exploits RPE dynamics.

13. [Analysis] The Autoplay Experiment Over one week, watch videos on a platform with autoplay enabled for three sessions, and without autoplay (or with a different platform) for three comparable sessions. After each session, record: total time spent, your estimation of time spent, your post-session satisfaction rating, and the number of videos you chose to watch versus watched passively. Write a 500-word analysis comparing the two conditions. Does your data match the pattern described in the Velocity Media scenario?

14. [Analysis] Prediction Error Calibration Before your next social media session, write down your prediction: How many new likes/comments/messages do you expect to find? How interesting do you expect the content to be on a 1–10 scale? How long do you predict you will spend? After the session, record the actual outcomes. Calculate the prediction errors. Do this for ten sessions over two weeks and analyze the pattern: Are you systematically over- or under-predicting? What effect does prediction error have on your post-session desire to check again?

15. [Analysis] The Seeking vs. Reward Comparison Identify a specific social media behavior that you engage in frequently — checking Instagram, refreshing Twitter, opening TikTok. For one week, each time you engage in this behavior, rate two things immediately: (1) the intensity of your desire to engage (the seeking state) on a scale of 1–10, and (2) the satisfaction of the engagement (the reward state) on a scale of 1–10. Plot these ratings over time. Do you find a consistent gap between seeking intensity and satisfaction? What does this tell you about the dopamine system's role in your behavior?

16. [Analysis] Escalation Audit Review your own social media content consumption over the past month by examining your viewing history or liked content (most platforms provide this). Can you identify any trends toward more extreme, emotionally provocative, or outrageous content compared to what you were viewing six months or a year ago? Write a 400-word analysis of what you find, connecting it to the escalation dynamic described in the chapter.

17. [Analysis] The Loss Aversion Calculator Think about the social media features in your life that function through loss aversion — streaks, accumulated followers, like counts on old posts, comment threads you've participated in. For each, estimate: How much would losing it bother you? Now estimate: How much do you actively enjoy having it on a daily basis? Compare the loss-aversion intensity to the daily positive value. Write a 300-word reflection on what the asymmetry reveals about how loss aversion shapes your relationship with these features.

Creative Tasks

18. [Creative] A Letter from the Algorithm Write a 500-word letter, in the first person, from a social media recommendation algorithm to a user. The letter should accurately describe the algorithm's goals and methods in terms that map onto the RPE framework — explaining how it maintains prediction error, selects for novelty, and optimizes for engagement. The letter should be honest about what the algorithm is doing and should acknowledge the gap between the algorithm's optimization target and the user's well-being. Make the letter technically accurate but emotionally resonant.

19. [Creative] Maya at the Lock Write a 600-word scene depicting Maya as she opens her locker to retrieve her phone after the three-hour experiment described in the chapter. The scene should render her internal state — the anticipatory dopamine activity, the cortisol-driven urgency, the experience of positive prediction error when she sees the like count — as vivid subjective experience rather than clinical description. Then write a 200-word authorial reflection on what this scene reveals about the phenomenology of conditioned anticipation.

20. [Creative] The Streak's Last Day Write a first-person narrative (500 words) from the perspective of a teenager who has just watched a 200-day Snapchat streak end — either because they forgot to send a snap or because the other person didn't. The narrative should accurately represent the experience of loss aversion and the emotional weight of the accumulated count, while being compassionate toward the narrator. Use the RPE and loss aversion frameworks to explain, in a brief afterword, why this experience has the emotional weight it does.

21. [Creative] Redesigning the Notification Imagine you are a designer at Velocity Media who has been tasked with redesigning the notification system to reduce its exploitation of RPE dynamics while preserving its function of informing users about relevant activity. Design three alternative notification systems, each embodying a different design philosophy (e.g., batched delivery, content-filtered priority, user-controlled timing). For each design, explain: How does it change the RPE dynamics? What is the predicted effect on compulsive checking? What would be the likely effect on engagement metrics?

Group Discussion Exercises

22. [Group] The Checking Intervention Design In groups of four, design a behavioral intervention to help a person like Maya reduce her compulsive phone checking during homework time. The intervention must be grounded in the RPE framework — it should address the specific neurological mechanisms driving the behavior, not just impose willpower-based restrictions. Present your intervention to the class and explain the behavioral science behind each element.

23. [Group] The Streak Policy Debate Divide into two groups. Group A argues that Snapchat streak mechanics are a harmless and creative way to encourage communication between friends. Group B argues that streak mechanics are a manipulative exploitation of loss aversion that produces documented anxiety in teenage users. Each group should ground its argument in the chapter's frameworks. After the debate, the class discusses: What would a reasonable regulatory response look like? What design changes would satisfy the concerns of Group B while preserving the benefits identified by Group A?

24. [Group] The Platform Ethics Tribunal Conduct a mock ethics tribunal in which Velocity Media is called to account for its autoplay decision. Assign roles: two tribunal members, Marcus Webb defending the decision, Dr. Aisha Johnson presenting the ethics concerns, and a user representative describing behavioral effects. The tribunal should reach a verdict with recommended remedies. Debrief: What standards should guide such a tribunal?

25. [Group] The Content Escalation Policy Design In groups of four to five, design a content moderation or recommendation policy that would address the escalation dynamic without eliminating the engagement that sustains the platform economically. Consider: How do you define "escalation"? What metrics would you monitor? What interventions would you trigger, and when? What trade-offs are unavoidable? Present your policy and acknowledge its limitations.

Extended Projects

26. [Project] The Two-Week Anticipation Study For two weeks, keep a detailed journal of your anticipatory states related to social media. Record every instance of wanting to check, every phantom vibration, every instance of anxiety about unchecked notifications, and every experience of positive or negative prediction error after checking. Write a 1,500-word analytical essay connecting your personal data to the chapter's RPE framework.

27. [Project] Comparative Platform Analysis Choose two social media platforms and analyze each one's design through the RPE framework. For each platform, identify: the primary conditioned cues (what triggers anticipation), the variable reward structure (what makes the reward unpredictable), the novelty mechanisms (how the platform maintains prediction uncertainty), and any loss aversion mechanics. Write a 1,500-word comparative analysis.

28. [Project] The User Research Study Design and conduct a small user research study (minimum five participants) on smartphone anticipation behavior. Develop an interview protocol and a brief survey based on the chapter's concepts. Conduct the study, analyze the results thematically, and write a 1,500-word research report on your findings.

29. [Project] Historical Case Study Choose a pre-social-media technology (pager, early cell phone, BlackBerry, early web forums) and research the anticipatory checking behavior it produced. Write a 1,500-word historical analysis connecting the behavioral patterns of that technology to the RPE framework developed in this chapter, identifying both parallels and meaningful differences.

30. [Project] The Regulatory Framework Design Write a detailed 2,000-word policy proposal for regulation of social media notification systems, grounded in the RPE research covered in this chapter. The proposal should specify: what behaviors or design features would be regulated, what evidence base justifies the regulation, what the proposed regulatory mechanism is, how compliance would be assessed, and what the likely effects on platform engagement and commercial viability would be.

Assessment and Synthesis

31. [Synthesis] The Behavioral Change Plan Based on your understanding of RPE and conditioned anticipation, design a personal behavioral change plan for managing your relationship with one specific social media checking habit. The plan should be grounded in behavioral science — it should address the specific mechanisms driving the behavior — and should be realistic about the limits of willpower-based strategies against conditioned anticipatory responses. Write 600 words.

32. [Synthesis] Teaching the Concept Write a 500-word explanation of reward prediction error and its relationship to social media checking behavior, aimed at a thirteen-year-old who has never studied neuroscience. Your explanation should be accurate, engaging, and free of jargon, but should not oversimplify the key points. Include one analogy, one example from the teenager's likely experience, and one implication for their relationship with their phone.

33. [Synthesis] The Policy Brief Write a 700-word policy brief on the RPE dynamics of social media notification systems, addressed to a legislative committee considering technology regulation. The brief should: explain the mechanism in accessible terms, describe the specific design features of concern, cite evidence of behavioral effects, and propose one or two specific regulatory interventions with realistic assessment of their likely effects.

34. [Synthesis] Comparing Chapters 7 and 8 Write a 600-word essay comparing and contrasting the dopamine loop framework (Chapter 7) and the reward prediction error framework (Chapter 8) as accounts of social media behavioral effects. What do the two frameworks share? Where do they differ? Which aspects of social media behavior does each framework explain better? How do the two frameworks together provide a more complete account than either does alone?

35. [Synthesis] The Design Ethics Case Write a 1,000-word ethical analysis of the autoplay decision in the Velocity Media scenario. Your analysis should: (1) clearly describe the behavioral effects of autoplay as documented in the chapter, (2) identify the relevant moral considerations on both sides, (3) apply at least two ethical frameworks (e.g., consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, contractualism) to the decision, (4) reach a reasoned conclusion about the right course of action, and (5) acknowledge the strongest objection to your conclusion and respond to it.