smart-phone-addiction-blog

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My Takeaways!

I hope I kept my word and made this blog unbiased. However, now I want to offer some of my own opinions and explain how my view on the issue has formed from my research. So, if you don’t care to read my thoughts, disregard this post. 

This research project really helped me gain a good understanding of smartphone addiction. With my first research session, I learned so much about the biological factors of addiction. I had some prior knowledge about dopamine in the brain, but I did not know to what extent of an impact it has on smartphone addiction. The idea of smartphones creating the same neurological effects in the brain as addictive drugs is kind of scary to me! Then, with my second research session, I was even more shocked to find that computer and social media programmers are intentionally designing technology associated with smartphones to cause addiction amongst its users. Then with my research on ethics, I believe that the motives of these programmers are unethical. Based on the utilitarianism view, the programmers are not keeping the greatest good for the greatest number of people in mind while designing these technologies. The greatest good does not equal potential smartphone addiction. I was happy to find studies that also backed up the stigma that adolescents are the main group at risk for addiction. Due to the studies confirming this belief, maybe parents should be aware of this rising problem. Changes at home and moderations of teen cell phone use may help nip this problem in the butt. Lastly, I found many of the treatment options that I researched to be very helpful. I tend to sit on my phone for an hour or so before I go to bed, which makes me not sleep so well at night. In order to help resolve this, I’m going to use one of the tips from the article and start putting my phone away from my bed so that I’m not tempted to go on it. Overall, I’m glad that I researched this topic and feel like I have gained a deep understanding on what goes into smartphone addiction and how to control it!

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Treatment

I know you’re probably thinking, “Ok lady, you told us all about smartphone addiction, now how would one overcome it?” There are obviously many ways to overcome addiction. I typed, “smart phone addiction treatment” into google and found a scholarly article in the US National Library of Medicine that describes processes that a therapist would use to help one overcome smartphone addiction. I want to provide and give examples of these processes so that maybe some of you can start your treatment plan today. 

The article is written by Hyunna Kim, a member of the Department of Social Welfare at Cheongam College in Korea. She starts with a brief overview of smartphone addiction, but I’m going to focus on the treatment aspect of the article. She starts by describing Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT). CBT can help an individual with smartphone addiction by recognizing his/her thoughts and feelings that are causing a need to indulge in his/her smartphone. This method recognizes 5 stages to change one’s behavior overtime. The stages include pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, maintenance, and termination. In pre-contemplation, a therapist would try to break and individual’s denial that a smartphone addiction problem exists. Then in contemplation, the individual would recognize his/her need for change, even if this the desire to change isn’t there yet. During preparation, the individual is ready to come up with a plan for change. Maintenance comes when the individual has put the plan to practice and is no longer feeling dependent or addicted to his/her smartphone. The end goal is termination, which is the point in which there are no relapses of addiction. Here’s an example of how this framework would work: 

Sarah’s mom has noticed that she's become increasingly dependent on her smartphone. Sarah texts at the dinner table, Facetimes her boyfriend while watching T.V, tweets 40 times a day, and never misses a game of HQ. She goes to therapist where he continually tries convincing her that she has a problem. Sarah finally agrees that maybe she does have a problem, but she doesn’t want to change. Then she decides that maybe it’s ok to set up a plan for breaking her addiction. This plan includes scheduling certain times of the day that she can check her phone, turning off her phone while eating dinner or doing homework, and placing her smartphone away from her bed at night so that she is not tempted to go on it. (There are more good suggestions to include in your step-by-step plan at this link that I used by doing a quick Google search for treatment methods! It’s a simple cite that I wouldn’t use for my main source, but still is a nice added perspective on suggestions of strategies for overcoming addiction.) Sarah practices this plan continually to the point where she no longer indulges in addictive behaviors again. 

This appears to me to be the easiest framework to apply to your own addiction because you could really follow the process without paying the bills for a therapist. However, in order to maintain an unbiased and learning perspective, I am going to continue to explore all of the treatment that Hyunna Kim suggests. 

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is used by therapists when dealing with patients with extreme cases of addiction and who continually deny that they have a problem. This form a treatment includes one or two sessions where basically the therapist just repeatedly tells you that you have a problem until you start to believe it yourself. I kind of pictured it in my head as a person laying on a couch while the therapist sternly says over and over, “You have a problem.�� It probably doesn’t go exactly like that, but hey you can paint your own picture. There is also Mindfulness Behavioral Cognitive Treatment (MBCT). This is a meditative approach that helps people “decenter from negative thoughts and associated sad moods.” The motive behind this treatment is the principle that an addicted person acts mindlessly or with awareness, so the idea of mindfulness and listening to inner emotions can help tackle addiction. If you are into meditation and body listening, then this is a great approach for you! Lastly, there is an approach used that contains a couple sub-categories, but ultimately falls under the umbrella term, Complementary Treatment. Complementary Treatment adds an environmental variable to help you overcome addiction. The sub categories include Music Therapy and Art Therapy. Both of these offer an external activity that can take your mind off of your smartphone in a peaceful and enjoyable manner! If you are not very deep into the addiction cycle, then this can be another great way therapy without ever actually visiting a therapist! Some guitar lessons might be helpful though.

This source helped me gain a diverse perspective on different forms of therapy that don’t just include seeing a therapist. Every level of addiction is different from person to person as well. I personally feel slightly addicted to my phone at times, but don’t consider myself to be totally dependent on it. I might utilize some of the step-by-step examples and leave my phone on my desk at night instead of keeping it with me in my bed. Many of the other treatment methods seem very effective and diverse depending on what you’re comfortable with. So, there’s no need to lose sleep over smartphone addiction. Just grab a guitar or paintbrush, shut your phone off, and relax!

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Kim, Hyunna. “Exercise Rehabilitation for Smart Phone Addiction .” National Center for Biotechnology Information , Korean Society of Exercise Rehabilitation, 31 Dec. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3884868/.

Smith, Melinda, et al. “Smartphone Addiction.” HelpGuide.org, HelpGuide.org, Apr. 2018, www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/smartphone-addiction.htm.  Accessed 13 April 2018.

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Who’s the Target?

You see many accusations out there saying that teens and adolescents are the main group at risk for developing smart phone addiction. Well, I want to know if this is actually true. What group can be most at risk for smart phone addiction or is there even a clear targeted group backed up by studies? I searched on google, “what group is at risk for smart phone addiction?” and I found two articles that I liked that studied adolescent behavior and smartphone addiction. One study samples a group of Taiwan students and another studied a group of Korean students. However, the study that involved Taiwan students was done in 2014 while the Korean study was done in 2015, so I decided to use the most recent results (If you want to check out the Taiwan study here’s the link).  The article with the Korean study is titled, “Prevalence and Predictors of Smartphone Addiction Proneness Among Korean Adolescents,” and is written by Changho Lee and Sook-Jung Lee. Let’s explore.

The introduction to the study starts by describing how smartphones have just recently been integrated into Asian culture, but has already shown rapid proneness to smartphone addiction among “younger people.” It also includes a statistic that I feel is important to point out. About 90% of Korean middle and high school students own a smartphone. This is good to know because when you look at the results from the study, you can rule out the confounding variable that some adolescents don’t have smartphones. Based on this statistic, there is a very small amount of students that don’t have smartphones, so the results are not skewed in that sense. The actual study took place in 2015 and was conducted by the National Information Society Agency (NISA). The NISA conducted a national survey on smart phone addiction by using the Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (SAPS). SAPS uses four sub-domains to measure addiction proneness which include disturbance of adaptive functions, virtual life orientation, withdrawal, and tolerance. Disturbance of adaptive functions refers to negative consequences caused by smartphone overuse (neglecting school work, falling grades, etc.). Virtual life orientation refers to the extent of a user’s preoccupation with the virtual world. Withdrawal would then refer to symptoms that occur when a user is unable to use a smartphone. Lastly, tolerance is when an increased amount of time spent on a smartphone is needed to satisfy the user. 

Now let’s look at the results. According to the survey, 31.6% of adolescents and 13.5% of adults were classified as addicted to smartphones. Of the 31.6% of adolescents and 13.5% of adults, 13.1% and 5.8% were addicted to the internet, respectively. Teenagers reported spending five hours a day on their smartphones and most reported using messenger and gaming apps. This was very interesting to me because it shows that adolescents and adults are more addicted to their smartphones as a whole than just being addicted to the internet. This could also make you conclude that smartphone addiction is more severe than internet addiction due to the fact that smartphones posses the ability for internet, messenger, and game use. The results also show that smartphone addiction is more serious among adolescents than adults.

I would have liked to get statistics from a study in the U.S, but there were no credible studies that I could find. I found a few cites that gave statistics for the number of adolescents addicted to their smartphones in the U.S. However, there was no explanation on how the study was conducted and the studies didn’t come from very credible sources. I feel like this source was useful in helping me answer my third research question. With this Korean study and the Taiwan study, both show adolescents being more addicted to smartphones than adults. I also wanted to get an adolescent’s perspective on smartphone addiction and see if that group recognizes themselves as being more addicted. I feel like this source does offer that perspective because the study is a survey, so adolescents are assessing their own smartphone use. So, they are essentially confessing to showing addictive behaviors. Now it’s up to you to decide if 31.6% of addicted adolescents is not so bad, or a problem. 

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Lee, Kim, and Sook-Jung Lee. “Prevalence and Predictors of Smartphone Addiction Proneness Among Korean Adolescents.” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 77, June 2017, pp. 10-17. ScienceDirect, doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.04.002

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Let's Talk Ethics

I obviously know that there’s no correct answer that says brain hacking is right or wrong. I just want to gather both sides of the discussion and let you decide what you think. I found a book that I have access to through the UWEC Library that takes an unbiased stance and strictly presents different philosophies on ethics in social media (if you have access to ProQuest Ebook Central then here’s the online version link, if not, I have the book cited below). The book is called Social Media: Usage and Impact,and is written by Hana S. Noor Al-Deen and John Allen Hendricks. Noor Al-Deen is a professor of communication at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Hendricks is Chair of the Department of Mass Communication at SFA State University. So basically I know that they have done quite a bit of research while writing this book. I am going to focus on Chapter 16 of the book which discusses specifically ethics of 21st century communication technology. 

The chapter starts with multiple philosophical perspectives, but then focuses in on ethics of social media by discussing Aristotle’s “Golden Mean.” This concept means that when confronted with a moral choice, moderation is ideal. So basically, you should do no act that will cause excessive use or an inability to maintain use in moderation. To apply this theory to brain hacking, you could view the computer programmers as being unethical because they are programming social media in a way that is intended to make its users engage in their websites excessively and without moderation. On the flip side, you could view the computer programmers as simply doing their job and trying to create a pleasant experience for its users. In this scenario, the unethical behavior would be put on the users for choosing to engage in social media in a way that does not take into consideration moderation. It’s all about perspective.

The chapter then moves to the philosophical perspective of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the ethical principal that stems from the belief that all actions should be made in order to maintain the greatest good for the greatest number of people. In terms of brain hacking, utilitarianism could view these algorithms used by computer programmers as something that is derived do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Trying to provide the most positive experience for all its users by creating pleasurable experiences and boosts of confidence, can be seen as a positive. On the other hand, utilitarianism could view the algorithms as something that does not keep in mind the greatest good for the greatest number of people. By supplying pleasurable experiences for users repeatedly with the motive to cause addiction, this can be seen as a negative. Again, it all depends on how you view the motives of computer programmers. If you believe that they are creating these algorithms to cause addiction, then it can be seen as unethical. If you believe that they are creating the algorithms to simply create a positive experience for its users, then it can be seen as ethical. 

One thing that I didn’t like too much about this source is that it didn’t really talk much about the gaming aspect of addiction and was very social media focused. However, this was the best source that I could find that included a good discussion on the actual philosophical perspectives of ethics that could be applied to the idea of brain hacking. Many articles that I found just discussed unethical behavior that can come from social media use such as cyberbullying. While those are important conversations as well, they don’t really tie into my research and the topic of addiction. I hope that this source helped you gain both perspectives of the ethical issue by providing you with ancient philosophies and allowed you to form your own opinion. I know I’ve formed my own opinion, but in order to keep this an unbiased blog, let’s move on! Watch for my next post regarding what (if any) group can be the target for smartphone addiction!

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Al-Deen, Hana S. Noor, and John Allen Hendricks. “Chapter 16: Tweets, Blogs, Facebook and the Ethics of 21st Century Communication Technology.” Social Media: Usage and Impact. Lexington Books, 2013, pp. 217-219. 

Photo: Hooijdonk, Richard van. “Mind Reading and Brain Hacking: Is the Freedom of Our Mind at Risk?” 17 Nov. 2017. https://www.richardvanhooijdonk.com/en/mind-reading-brain-hacking-freedom-mind-risk/. JPEG file.

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Brain Hacking

I want to know the tips and tricks that social media and gaming programmers use to get us all coming back for more. I remembered a video (embedded later on in the post!) that I watched in another class of mine and then I found the article version on CBS News. The article contains an interview of two men (one being a former Google employee and one being a computer programmer) on a phenomenon called “brain hacking.” This idea of brain hacking refers to specific algorithms that are used to program your smartphone, apps, and social media to allegedly get you hooked. 

The interview starts with inside information from Tristan Harris, a former product manager for Google. He spent three years with Google developing a framework for how technology should “ethically” steer how the user’s mind thinks. He admits in the interview that companies responsible for programming your phone and its apps (Apple, Google, Facebook, and gaming apps) are making it their goal to get you and your family to feel as though you need to check in constantly. Harris describes smartphones as slot machines. Every time you check your phone, you’re playing a slot machine to see what you get. He says that the trick to programming is to make it so that when someone pulls the lever (checks his/her phone), sometimes they get a reward (text message, “like” on Instagram, game notification, etc.). This technique is embedded in all smartphones and apps. Each app utilizes its own technique too. Snapchat uses “streaks” as a way to get its users to come back to it everyday. Twitter supplies you with notifications when multiple people that you follow “like” the same tweet. HQ gives you notifications every time the game is about to go live. You can pick any app on your phone and easily point out what technique it uses to make you keep visiting it. Harrison even bluntly exposes that technology such as smartphones and apps want you to use them in particular ways and for long periods of time because that’s how they make their money. So in general, addiction is the end goal for all smartphone, gaming apps, and social media companies. 

The second part of the interview focuses on Ramsay Brown who studied neuroscience before co-founding Dopamine Labs. What his company does is write computer codes for apps used by fitness companies and financial firms. The programs he creates are designed to provoke a neurological response in users. He specifically tries to find ways to make you feel a little extra awesome to get you to come back to that app longer. His computer code finds the best moment to give you one of those rewards that trigger your brain to want more. For example, Instagram uses a code that holds back “like” notifications and then presents them to you later in a burst. They even have algorithms designed for specific users that evaluate, “if we give this burst to them at this time, then it will increase the user’s activity.” there are millions of calculations taking place to constantly tweak your online experience by making you want to come back for more. To relate this back to my first research post, social media and gaming apps are using algorithms to provide “pleasurable experiences” that will continue releasing dopamine in the brain to the point where one becomes addicted.

It was very interesting to find this perspective from workers that could essentially be responsible for causing smartphone addiction. I feel like this source helped answer another one of my research questions. Social Media and gaming apps appear to intentionally play a roll in addiction by designing algorithms that dictate your participation and wanting to return to the app. Now that I know this, I want to pose a new question that I will use to guide my next research session: Are these design frameworks ethical to use? Should it be excepted for these companies to possibly be causing addiction intentionally?

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“Brain Hacking.” 60 Minutes. CBS, 10 Jan. 2018

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Neurochemical Factors of Addiction

I first wanted to know what neurochemical factors actually lead to smartphone addiction. I searched, “internet addiction neurological” on the UWEC library search and I found a neurologically focused source that discussed the impact of certain neurotransmitters in the addictive cycle. This was a great source written by Kimberly Young, a renowned psychologist who specifically studies Internet addiction disorder. Her work is cited by every Internet Addiction Website out there (she’s the real deal). The published work of hers that I am using is, “Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment.” I’m mainly going to focus on Part II of her handbook and look more into her discussion of neurotransmitters in the brain in order to get a solid understanding of the biological aspect of smartphone addiction.

In her handbook, Young analyzes fMRI scans that actually show neurophysiological changes from online addiction. One of the addicting aspects of one’s smartphone is the easy access to internet browsers and apps. Well, new studies have found that the neural substrate released in the craving of online addiction is similar to that associated with substance abuse. It appears that internet addiction is a result from elevated levels of dopamine in the brain. For those of you who don’t know, dopamine is a neurotransmitter released in the brain to make you feel motivated or feel pleasure. It’s often referred to as the “Sex, Drugs, and Rock-N-Roll Neurotransmitter.” It’s also the same chemical that is released by your brain while using drugs that make you become addicted. When drug addicts say that they’re, “chasing the high,” it scientifically means they’re trying to release an amount of dopamine in their brains that will make them feel as good as their last high made them feel. So, in terms of smartphone addiction, when we see something that we like on the internet, get a text message from our best friend, receive a Facebook notification, or win that game of Solitaire, dopamine is released in our brains. Yay, dopamine! 

Due to the fact that there are so many pleasurable experiences associated with your smartphone, the use of it can make you adapt addictive behaviors. After original exposure to the pleasurable action, the next step in the addictive behavior cycle is intoxication (or in other words, elevated dopamine levels). The elevation in dopamine is followed by a pattern of one’s increased desire to repeat the original action. For example, if I get a notification on my phone that somebody commented, “looking’ good!!” on my new Facebook picture, then I feel good about myself and it serves to be a pleasurable experience. Then, I may post more pictures on Facebook and check my phone more frequently in hopes of getting another pleasurable experience. The same goes for texting, snap chatting, playing HQ, or any other feature of one’s smart phone really. For those of you who studied psychology, it serves to be a form of positive reinforcement which occurs when some reinforcer increases the likelihood of the specific action. To put this into context: a notification, text message, or invite to play HQ, serves as a positive reinforcer because they are increasing your activity in your smartphone. Who doesn’t want to play HQ to win a share of $15,000? At the end of the day, based on the science, it is only natural for people to increase their use of smartphones due to its pleasurable nature and reinforcement structure. 

I am really glad that I found this source because I feel like it definitely helped me answer my first research question. In order to start the conversation on smartphone addiction, I really felt that it was imperative to know the scientific aspect and what biological factors lead to it. I think I have laid a good foundation and understand now that smartphone addiction has major biological effects on your brain and the neurotransmitters that it releases. Next I want to dive into more of the factors associated with your smartphone that cause addiction (i.e. social media and gaming apps).

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Young, Kimberly S., and Cristiano Nabuco de Abreu. “Chapter 8: Neurochemical Factors.” Internet Addiction: a Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment. John Wiley & Sons, 2011, pp. 136–139. 

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Intro!

Hey Everyone! My name is Brelynn and I’m a freshman at UWEC. This blog will be used to follow my research on how people can become addicted to their smartphones. I wanted to look into this topic because you hardly see anybody walking down the street or around campus without his/her smartphone. I’m sure many of you have smartphones of your own with specific apps you might feel slightly addicted to like Instagram, snapchat, iMessenger, flappy bird, or HQ. So, here are a few things that I want to know! 

1. How would one become addicted to his/her smartphone?

2. What role can social media and gaming apps play in smartphone addiction?

3. What group can this addiction target? 

4. What are treatment options for overcoming possible smartphone addiction?

I will be sharing information that I find from credible sources and presenting them to you from an unbiased stance while also `attempting to answer my research questions. Stay tuned!

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Photo: Claire, UW- Eau. “Students walking away from Hibbard.” University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, https://www.uwec.edu/human-resources/employment-opportunities/job-openings/. JPEG file.