Chapter 28 Quiz: Gaming Mechanics in Social Media

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

Question 1. Sebastian Deterding and colleagues define gamification as:

A) The creation of video games for educational purposes B) The use of game design elements in non-game contexts C) The conversion of social media platforms into interactive games D) The psychological study of gaming behavior and addiction

Question 2. The abbreviation "PBL" in gamification design refers to:

A) Player-Based Learning B) Platform Behavioral Leverage C) Points, Badges, and Leaderboards D) Participation, Belonging, and Loyalty

Question 3. Ian Bogost's term "exploitationware" refers to:

A) Software designed to extract data from users without permission B) Gamification that extracts engagement without providing genuine value C) Games disguised as social media platforms D) Artificial intelligence systems that exploit users' emotional responses

Question 4. According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which three basic psychological needs underlie intrinsic motivation?

A) Achievement, recognition, and rewards B) Competence, autonomy, and relatedness C) Status, belonging, and mastery D) Power, affiliation, and achievement

Question 5. The "undermining effect" (also called the "overjustification effect") refers to:

A) The tendency for games to become more engaging over time B) The reduction of intrinsic motivation that can occur when external rewards are introduced C) The gradual erosion of platform quality through gamification D) The process by which gamification undermines users' ability to resist engagement

Question 6. B.F. Skinner's research established that which reinforcement schedule produces the highest and most persistent rates of responding?

A) Fixed interval reinforcement B) Fixed ratio reinforcement C) Variable ratio reinforcement D) Continuous reinforcement

Question 7. Natasha Dow Schüll's concept of "the zone" in casino gambling refers to:

A) The designated gambling area within a casino floor B) A dissociative state of focused, continuous engagement in which players lose awareness of time and context C) The period of peak gambling performance before fatigue sets in D) A psychological state of heightened awareness and strategic thinking

Question 8. YouTube's Silver Play Button is awarded when a creator reaches which subscriber milestone?

A) 10,000 subscribers B) 50,000 subscribers C) 100,000 subscribers D) 500,000 subscribers

Question 9. Which of the following best describes how the pull-to-refresh mechanic on Twitter/X parallels casino slot machine design?

A) Both reward users for consistent, predictable behavior B) Both use fixed ratio reinforcement schedules with predictable payoff timing C) Both use variable ratio reinforcement schedules with unpredictable payoffs D) Both are designed to be deliberately frustrating to increase subsequent engagement

Question 10. TikTok challenges implement which game design element most directly?

A) Levels B) Badges C) Points D) Quests

Question 11. Goodhart's Law, as applied to social media gamification, states:

A) Any gamification system will eventually fail as users become accustomed to rewards B) When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure C) Gamification produces good outcomes when the game elements match the underlying activity D) Social metrics always become corrupted over time due to competitive pressure

Question 12. LinkedIn's "Profile Strength" meter is described in the chapter as an implementation of which game element?

A) Badge B) Leaderboard C) Quest (progress bar toward completion) D) Level

Question 13. The chapter describes the convergence of mobile game mechanics and social media mechanics. Which of the following best explains why this convergence occurred?

A) Social media companies hired game designers who imported their expertise B) Both industries share the optimization goal of maximizing time-on-platform and independently discovered the same psychological mechanisms C) Government regulations required social media platforms to implement educational game elements D) Users demanded more game-like features in their social media experiences

Question 14. Edward Deci and Richard Ryan's research on intrinsic motivation showed that:

A) External rewards always increase motivation and engagement B) Intrinsic motivation is primarily genetic and not affected by environmental factors C) External rewards introduced for previously intrinsically motivated activities can reduce intrinsic motivation D) The effect of external rewards on intrinsic motivation depends primarily on the size of the reward

Question 15. In the Velocity Media gamification debate, Dr. Aisha Johnson proposed "competence gamification" as an alternative to "engagement gamification." The key distinction was:

A) Competence gamification used physical objects; engagement gamification used digital badges B) Competence gamification tied achievements to specific skill demonstrations verified by experts; engagement gamification tied achievements to engagement metrics C) Competence gamification was more expensive to implement; engagement gamification was cheaper D) Competence gamification was designed for adult users; engagement gamification was designed for teenagers

Question 16. Reddit's karma system was designed to surface high-quality community contributions. The chapter notes that "karma farming" emerged as a response. This is an example of:

A) The endowment effect B) Goodhart's Law C) Variable ratio reinforcement D) The undermining effect

Question 17. The chapter notes that gamification is "more effective when users do not recognize it as gamification." What ethical concern does this observation raise?

A) It suggests that gamification users are cognitively impaired B) It indicates a potential consent problem: users engage with behavioral manipulation systems without being informed C) It means gamification can only work on unsophisticated users and will fail as users become educated D) It demonstrates that gamification is a form of fraud

Question 18. Which of the following is identified as a "near-miss" equivalent in social media contexts?

A) A post that receives exactly the average number of likes B) A post that approaches but does not reach a viral threshold C) A notification that does not result in engagement D) A streak that ends exactly at the 24-hour window

Question 19. The chapter describes the distinction between leaderboards' motivational effects at different position ranges. According to the chapter, leaderboards are most motivating when a user is:

A) At the absolute top of the leaderboard B) At the absolute bottom of the leaderboard C) Near the top or near a meaningful threshold D) Exactly in the middle of the leaderboard

Question 20. Jesse Schell's DICE 2010 talk was influential in the early gamification movement. His concept involved:

A) The specific design principles for fair gambling systems B) A "game layer on top of the world" — game mechanics embedded throughout everyday life C) A critique of social media companies' use of game mechanics D) An analysis of how games could be used to teach ethics

Question 21. Which of the following statements about the ethics of gamification is most consistent with the chapter's argument?

A) All gamification is unethical because it manipulates behavior without consent B) All gamification is ethical because users voluntarily engage with platforms C) Gamification ethics depend primarily on the optimization target: what behavior is being incentivized and for whose benefit D) Gamification ethics depend primarily on the sophistication of the implementation

Question 22. The "infinite scroll" design mechanic is described in the chapter as contributing to the casino-like engagement environment by:

A) Providing a fixed number of posts per session to create scarcity B) Removing the friction of page-loads, eliminating natural stopping points in engagement sessions C) Algorithmically selecting the most engaging content for each user D) Creating a competitive environment in which users compete for position in the feed

Answer Key

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