Phone use and marshmallows: How less is s’more

In the digital age, humans sit the ‘Marshmallow Test’ every day. Just like the children in the Stamford experiment being told to wait for two marshmallows or receive one immediately, we are offered instant gratification in the form of social media or are told to delay the gratification by gaining dopamine a different way, such as by working hard at something to succeed at later, or scheduling plans with our friends. Whereas in the original study, many children were able to wait for the two marshmallows, UK phone users continually choose to have just one marshmallow, and experience the instant gratification of the constant data stream for an average of four hours a day. This issue of instant versus delayed gratification has been discussed since Ancient Greece, where philosopher Epicurus argued that we experience ‘truer’ happiness in the “static pleasures” of delayed gratification. However, digital age humans find the impulsive want for immediate gratification harder to ignore when faced with addictive phone technology, particularly on social media. The instant dopamine reward from the social interactions experienced online causes users to associate happiness with phone use, increasing usage. This process is called long term potentiation, where the synaptic connections between neurons are strengthened by each activation, meaning that the neural pathways connecting the stimulus (the phone) and the reward (dopamine release) are strengthened with each repeated association. Our phone reliance is further cemented by social media companies’ use of a varied reinforcement schedule, as identified by Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning. For example, Instagram uses the principle of varied ratio reinforcement by occasionally withholding notifications of likes when a user posts, causing them to be initially disappointed and then receiving a huge burst of unexpected responses later. The dopamine pathways in our brains then respond generously to these responses, due to the initial negative outcome we experienced. Therefore, our rewards system is becoming increasingly reliant on the instant dopamine hit we are able to receive from our phones. Evolutionary psychologists argue that taking advantage of immediate opportunities instead of waiting when you don’t know when the next ‘reward’ will be was favourable in a time where resources were unstable. Thus, humans have evolved to naturally favour instant gratification, explaining our contemporary phone reliance. We can use this concept to improve our ability to wait for our gratification by keeping clear and achievable time goals in mind, as delaying our dopamine hit should be easier as we will know how long the delayed gratification task will take to fulfil us. For example, knowing that just one hour of practice will help you learn your favourite song on guitar will make it easier to pick up the instrument instead of your phone. Furthermore, this primes our brains to understand that delayed gratification is rewarding. A similar study to the original Marshmallow Test demonstrates how past experiences can improve our ability to wait for delayed gratification. One condition of the experiment demonstrated to the children that waiting for the better reward was a reliable way to be gratified by having the experimenter do a similar process of leaving the room and returning to give a better reward before the actual Marshmallow Test whereas the other involved the children being promised a better reward they never actually received. Unsurprisingly, the children who had seen evidence that waiting ensured the more enjoyable happiness of delayed gratification before the actual experiment had a significantly longer average waiting time of twelve minutes compared to the average of three minutes of the other condition. Putting these ideas together, if we set manageable goals of delayed gratification and begin to see the effects of the more enjoyable “static pleasures” that Epicurus described, we will be more likely to ‘trust the process’ and continue to seek this out instead of our phones. This repeated association will then cause long term potentiation to strengthen the connection between various delayed gratification tasks and the dopamine release in the rewards system, further increasing the likelihood of this behaviour being repeated. Therefore, humanity should aim to restore our ability to delay our gratification and experience ‘true happiness’ by learning that, for phone use, less is s’more.