Written by Elia Müller Behavioural studies have shown that if pigeons are presented with a food source, that reliably provides them with pellets when they peck at the source, they will eventually grow accustomed to this and stop pecking. If, however, the food source releases pellets intermittently—in a way that seems random and unrelated to the amount of pecking—the pigeons peck relentlessly and do not grow bored or accustomed to the food source (Catania et al., 1977). This presents a unique question: Why do pigeons seem so enthralled by a food source that is less reliable? And, maybe more interestingly, what does this have to do with human psychology? Pigeons and humans alike are hardwired with pattern-seeking mechanisms that enable them to build mental models of the way the world works (though, obviously, humans have slightly more complex mental models than pigeons). These models help us predict what may happen in certain situations, allowing us to prepare our responses in advance. An example of this might be identifying a pattern of behaviour, such as your parent generally being more irritable on Mondays. Based on the pattern, you could predict that they will be more irritable on any given Monday, allowing you to adjust your behaviour to avoid getting into an argument. This pattern-finding ability was listed in Simon’s (1990) article titled “Invariants of Human Behavior”, where it was described as “an important component of human intelligence” (p. 10). So, given that it is so beneficial and natural for humans to find patterns, we might be able to understand why we become fascinated (and sometimes obsessed with or addicted to) situations or things that seem to be totally random—the apparent unpredictability provides our pattern-centric brains with a challenge that we refuse to abandon. In the following sections, I will explore further why unpredictable situations are so thrilling to us, specifically with reference to music and humour. I will also explore situations in which our fascination with unpredictability can be harmful, for example leading to addictions or harmful relationships with others. The Link Between Unpredictability and Enjoyment Without getting too technical about things, our learning process is linked with our brain’s reward system (which makes us feel contentment or enjoyment). We associate certain stimuli with desirable or positive outcomes (Lewis et al., 2021) and begin predicting that a positive outcome will occur when the stimulus is present. Then, even before we witness the outcome of the stimulus, our brain is rewarded for having made this prediction (Veissière & Stendel, 2018). This effect of pre-emptive rewards decreases when our predictions are reliably met, making things that are generally unpredictable (but not completely random) the most rewarding phenomena to the brain. Our brain keeps convincing itself that it is about to find a pattern every time it makes a correct prediction, which keeps it going through all the times it fails to predict what comes next. This tendency becomes interesting when you examine how pervasive unpredictability is in the things that entertain us. I have decided to demonstrate this using the example of jokes and music. Goatly (2017) has explained that what makes jokes funny is the violation of what is known as our “lexical priming”. Essentially, every time we hear a word, our brain activates a kind of mind map of that word and any concepts related to it. This helps us predict what someone might be about to say, again allowing us to prepare for what comes next. However, jokes are structured to intentionally go against our lexical priming. An example of this might be the following joke: Q: Which of the following words is the odd one out: greed, anger, malice, and depression? A: And Our expectation is violated because “and” is not a very meaningful word, so we were not “primed” to expect it as an answer to the question in the joke. What follows is the funny realisation that our prediction for the answer failed. This same phenomenon of unpredictable stimuli being enjoyable to us reappears in music. Gold et al. (2019) demonstrated that the most enjoyable pieces of music contain some degree of uncertainty, but only to the extent that we are able to form some sort of predictions about what might come next—fully random noise is hardly enjoyable. The Darker Aspects of Unpredictability: Addiction and Unhealthy Relationship Dynamics Unfortunately, our brain’s propensity to attempt to find patterns in unpredictable situations can lead to addictions that can upend people’s lives. An example of this is gambling addictions. Slot machines are designed to provide people with the equivalent of the pigeons’ unpredictable feeding machine. Just as the pigeons keep pecking, predicting that they might be rewarded with food, those addicted to gambling keep on pulling the lever of the slot machines, predicting that they might be rewarded with a win. Ladouceur (2004) reported that those with gambling issues even verbalised their insistence on being able to predict a win by saying things like, “The machine is due; I need to continue.” He elaborated that those addicted to gambling seem to have the incorrect belief that “the game’s outcome can be predicted and controlled” (p. 501). Perhaps an even more concerning area of our lives where we search for predictable patterns in unpredictable situations is our relationships with other people. Veissière and Stendel (2018) found that the type of reward promised in these types of unpredictable situations worsens our brain’s search for patterns: If our predictions succeed, the rewards are deeply social, as opposed to the money we are rewarded with in slot machines. Further, Veissière and Stendel emphasise that our need for human connections is an old evolutionary drive, and that this makes our need to predict the behaviour of others (even if it may be unpredictable) even more pressing. This means that having a relationship with a person whose behaviour is highly unpredictable can easily become addictive, because we 1) crave finding patterns where there are none, and 2) the stakes are raised by our desire to have interpersonal relationships. However, research suggests that “relational certainty” (essentially the opposite of having an unpredictable and volatile relationship) increased people’s happiness in their romantic relationships (Knobloch & Solomon, 2003). This presents us with a pressing dilemma that is tragically worsened by the way in which the media presents blueprints for relationships (especially romantic ones). I read through the plots of a random selection of movies from a list of the most highly rated romantic comedies in Hollywood (Bagusdriantama, 2013), and they contained many tropes that romanticise plotlines where characters frequently change their minds about their partners, leave steady partners for the sake of unreliable alternatives, and interrupt an endless amount of wedding ceremonies. How are we to opt for stable relationships when we become hooked on unpredictability, and this state of uncertainty is portrayed as the ideal by the media? Conclusion We have seen that our pattern-oriented minds are uniquely gripped by unpredictable data. This phenomenon both helps us understand various forms of entertainment—such as music and humour — as well as shedding light on darker aspects of the human experience—such as addiction and unstable relationships. The take-away I suggest would be simply to be aware of the situations that may entrap us, getting stuck searching for a pattern where there is none. We might thereby be able to avoid torturing ourselves, playing a guessing game over whether our emotionally unavailable friends or partners will act in a kind or distant manner. And lastly, make unexpected jokes! References Bagusdriantama, A. (2013, June 17). The best rom-com movies of all time. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/list/ls053605210/ Catania, A. C., Matthews, T. J., Silverman, P. J., & Yohalem, R. (1977). Yoked variable-ratio and variable-interval responding in pigeons. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 28(2), 155–161. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.1977.28-155 Goatly, A. (2017). Lexical priming in humorous discourse. The European Journal of Humour Research, 5(1), 52–68. https://doi.org/10.7592/ejhr2017.5.1.goatly Gold, B. P., Pearce, M. T., Mas-Herrero, E., Dagher, A., & Zatorre, R. J. (2019). Predictability and uncertainty in the pleasure of music: A reward for learning? The Journal of Neuroscience, 39(47), 9397–9409. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0428-19.2019 Knobloch, L. K., & Solomon, D. H. (2003). Responses to changes in relational uncertainty within dating relationships: Emotions and communication strategies. Communication Studies, 54(3), 282–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510970309363287 Ladouceur, R. (2004). Gambling: The hidden addiction. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49(8), 501–503. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370404900801 Lewis, R. G., Florio, E., Punzo, D., & Borrelli, E. (2021). The brain’s reward system in health and disease. In Engmann, O. & Brancaccio, M. (Eds). Advances in experimental medicine and biology (Vol. 1344, pp. 57-69). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81147-1_4 Simon, H. A. (1990). Invariants of Human Behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 41(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ps.41.020190.000245 Veissière, S. P., & Stendel, M. (2018). Hypernatural Monitoring: A social rehearsal account of smartphone addiction. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00141
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01eliafan
4/6/2023 12:44:26
YASSS MOMMY ACADEMIC ELIA MY LITTLE GENIUS SLAYYYY
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