Chapter 12 Quiz: Endless Feeds, Autoplay, and the Abolition of Stopping Cues
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. A "stopping cue" is best defined as:
A) A platform notification alerting users to take a break from their device B) A signal embedded in the structure of an activity that indicates completion and permits behavioral transition C) A parental control setting that limits minors' screen time to specific hours D) A visual indicator showing users how much content remains in their feed
2. The "unit bias" effect in behavioral economics research demonstrates that:
A) People consume one unit of any substance before carefully evaluating whether to have more B) Consumption tends to expand to approximately one unit of whatever container or portion is provided C) The first unit of consumption produces the most pleasure, with diminishing returns thereafter D) People consistently underestimate the size of the unit they have consumed
3. Wansink's "bottomless bowl" experiment found that participants eating from secretly refilled bowls consumed approximately how much more soup than those eating from normal bowls?
A) 25% more B) 50% more C) 73% more D) 120% more
4. Aza Raskin invented infinite scroll while working at:
A) Facebook B) Twitter C) Humanized, a startup D) Google, as a design ethicist
5. Raskin estimated that infinite scroll, across all platforms that adopted it, is responsible for approximately how many hours of human attention captured daily that would not otherwise have been?
A) 20,000 hours B) 200,000 hours C) 2 million hours D) 20 million hours
6. In Raskin's own description of infinite scroll, he compared it to:
A) A library that never closes B) A conveyor belt that moves content toward users automatically C) Behavioral cocaine sprinkled on the interface D) A mirror that reflects users' preferences back at them
7. The primary behavioral economics reason why pagination's "click to next page" reduces consumption relative to infinite scroll is:
A) The click is physically fatiguing and discourages continuation B) The page break creates a decision point at which users may evaluate whether to continue C) Users are reminded by the page number how much content they have already consumed D) The loading delay gives users time for their dopamine levels to normalize
8. The Zeigarnik effect refers to:
A) The tendency to remember positive experiences more vividly than negative ones B) The mind's tendency to maintain attention on unfinished or interrupted tasks C) The cognitive bias toward preferring current rewards over future ones D) The phenomenon of finding novel content more engaging than familiar content
9. Autoplay exploits the Zeigarnik effect primarily by:
A) Showing emotionally arousing content during the transition between episodes B) Beginning the next episode before the viewer has registered the previous episode's ending C) Reducing audio volume during end credits to make the episode feel incomplete D) Displaying visual previews of future episodes throughout the current one
10. The typical duration of Netflix's autoplay countdown before the next episode begins automatically is:
A) 3–5 seconds B) 10–15 seconds C) 25–30 seconds D) 45–60 seconds
11. According to default-and-opt-out research, the behavioral significance of the ten-second autoplay countdown is that it:
A) Provides users sufficient time to make a fully informed decision about continuation B) Frames stopping as the active choice requiring deliberate effort, while continuation is the default C) Satisfies regulatory requirements for user consent without meaningfully affecting behavior D) Increases viewer satisfaction by reducing the time spent in unengaging transition periods
12. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings famously stated that Netflix's main competitor was:
A) Traditional cable television B) YouTube and user-generated content C) Sleep D) Social media platforms
13. The subjective underestimation of time during social media scrolling is thought to occur because:
A) Engaging content activates the brain's reward system, which alters time perception directly B) Scrolling content does not build into memorable episodic structures, leaving fewer memory traces for time estimation C) The blue light from screens directly suppresses the brain regions responsible for time tracking D) Social comparison anxiety occupies cognitive resources that would otherwise be available for time monitoring
14. Users who emerge from long scroll sessions often report difficulty concentrating on other tasks. This phenomenon is most closely related to which concept discussed in later chapters?
A) The Zeigarnik effect B) Attentional residue and context switching costs C) The highlight reel effect D) Social comparison fatigue
15. Research by Charles Czeisler's group at Harvard Medical School on screen light before bed primarily documents:
A) The cognitive impairment produced by social media content in the two hours before sleep B) Blue-spectrum light's suppression of melatonin production and extension of circadian wakefulness C) The relationship between notification frequency and sleep architecture disruption D) The social pressure from online peer groups to stay awake late
16. The debate at Velocity Media between Marcus Webb and Dr. Aisha Johnson over autoplay centered on:
A) Whether autoplay constituted an intellectual property violation of Netflix's patent B) Whether the "time well spent" design commitment was compatible with a default-on autoplay implementation C) Whether autoplay would improve or worsen the platform's recommendation algorithm's accuracy D) Whether users had been adequately informed that autoplay was enabled by default
17. Dr. Johnson argued that "default equals choice only if the default was chosen deliberately." This argument is most directly an application of which concept?
A) The Zeigarnik effect B) The distinction between explicit and implicit consent in ethics C) Default-and-opt-out behavioral economics research on preference expression D) Social comparison theory's distinction between upward and downward comparison
18. The concept of "time well spent" as a design metric, associated with Tristan Harris, differs from standard engagement metrics primarily because it:
A) Measures total minutes of use rather than number of sessions B) Asks whether users felt their time was well used, not merely how long they spent C) Prioritizes revenue per user hour rather than total engagement time D) Focuses on the content quality experienced rather than the platform interface design
19. Tristan Harris's Center for Humane Technology has specifically advocated for which of the following design changes? (Select the most complete answer)
A) A complete ban on algorithmic content recommendation B) Removal of autoplay and infinite scroll, chronological feeds as alternatives, and notifications redesigned to serve user needs C) Mandatory screen time limits of two hours per day enforced by platform software D) Age verification systems requiring adult supervision for users under 18
20. The chapter's "design alternatives" to stopping-cue removal include time-well-spent prompts. The psychological rationale for these prompts is that:
A) They shame users into stopping by making their overconsumption visible to others B) They provide the transition moment that natural stopping cues would otherwise create C) They trigger System 2 (deliberate) processing by asking an evaluation question D) Both B and C
21. The "3am scroll" phenomenon involves which combination of factors?
A) Infinite content availability + no platform stopping signal + sleep-suppressing screen light B) FOMO anxiety + social comparison content + notification-driven re-engagement C) Zeigarnik effect cliffhangers + autoplay continuation + social pressure to stay current D) Algorithmic amplification + variable reward + absence of parental oversight
22. Fewer than what percentage of Velocity Media users changed the default autoplay setting, according to internal data cited in the chapter?
A) 1% B) 4% C) 12% D) 20%
Answer Key
- B
- B
- C
- C
- B
- C
- B
- B
- B
- B
- B
- C
- B
- B
- B
- B
- C
- B
- B
- D
- A
- B