If you find the right method, learning can be as addictive as playing games!

Audit expert: Li Xianhong

National Level 2 Psychological Counselor at the Psychological Counseling Center of the 371 Central Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army

Why is it that I can play a few games on my phone and an afternoon will pass by, while when class starts I have to count the time to get through the difficult 45 minutes? One is like a year, while the other is like a day. How can there be such a big difference?

I've experienced game addiction, can God let me experience learning addiction? Don't worry, we can really find a way to make you addicted to learning.

1

Analysis of "magic" in games

In fact, in the design process of the game, various reward mechanisms are designed to stimulate our brains to secrete dopamine, which makes us feel happy. In the eyes of medical scientists, the essence of happiness is the effect of dopamine, a chemical substance in the human body, on the brain. The game just takes advantage of this and designs a random reward mechanism in the design process. The visual and sound impact brought by the game animation stimulates our brains and makes us feel happy.

To further understand this magical "magic", that is, the secret of game addiction, let us first analyze the addiction model. In this model, it is roughly composed of four parts: trigger, action, variable rewards and investment.

Source | [1] Wang Pengtao, Chen Zhihong. Research on the strategy of guiding mobile game usage habits based on the "addiction" model [J]. Southeast Communication, 2019, (02): 79-82.

trigger

Triggers are divided into external triggers and internal triggers. The so-called external triggers are to attract users' attention by external factors. Take the game "Honor of Kings" as an example. The game invites traffic stars to endorse the game, increase the game's exposure, and grab the public's attention. This is an external induction. In addition, giving users certain game benefits is also an external induction, such as giving new users game coins and supplies, and giving returning players return packages. Internal induction uses users' emotional factors to make them interested in the game. Playing games with teammates can gain a sense of identity and belonging.

These positive emotions are fed back to the users, making them interested in the game. When we are depressed, we will think of playing games to relieve it, because it can provide positive and active emotions such as freedom and victory, allowing us to temporarily forget our troubles, feel happiness and hope, and make us more interested in the game.

action

Games usually require players to take actions, such as controlling characters or answering questions, etc. These actions can make players more engaged and increase their sense of participation. Fogg, director of the Persuasive Technology Research Laboratory at Stanford University, established a behavioral model: Behavior = Motivation * Ability * Trigger. Fogg believes that there are three reasons for motivation: feeling, expectation, and belonging, which can be generally said as "pursuing happiness and avoiding pain", "pursuing hope and avoiding fear", and "pursuing recognition and avoiding rejection".

What if you can't learn or don't have time? It doesn't matter, the game will simplify many things and save you time to learn how to operate; don't have money? It doesn't matter, the game will set up some free items so that you can experience the game without spending money.

2

Variable rewards

Rewards can be understood as rewards, which can be roughly divided into three categories: social rewards, prey rewards and self-rewards.

We will develop new social relationships such as game friends, and the loneliness we feel in the real world can be compensated by the Internet, which is social reward. Prey reward can be broadly understood as resources, information, and levels in the game (highlighting one's own differences). Self-reward is the satisfaction of self-emotion, such as a sense of operation, a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of finality.

When users get involved, they will get rich rewards, which will motivate us to continue taking action. Many times, what we hope to get is no longer the reward itself, but the urgent sense of need and excitement before getting the reward.

Investment

In the game, users can invest time and energy to master game skills, collect items or complete goals. This investment will immerse players in the game, creating a "flow" state in which they forget the passage of time and feel that time passes quickly.

Source | pexels

If we want to apply this state of obsession to study or work, what should we do? It is not complicated to follow this "magic" formula.

3

Use "magic" to make us addicted to learning

First of all, we need to figure out why it is easy to get distracted when studying.

In school, our exams or tests are periodic, such as a week or a month, but our brains have a limited focus time and cannot last that long. In addition, exams and tests are common and frequent, so our brains will begin to "ignore" this matter and ignore setting corresponding goals for ourselves. In school, we will not get a candy for attending class seriously for 45 minutes, but we will get praise or rewards only when our grades improve in the midterm or final exams, which are separated by several months. This "untimely" feedback can easily make us slack off.

Now that we know why it’s easy to get distracted while studying, let’s see how to use “magic” to make us addicted to studying.

Before we start the first stage of study, we should set a goal for ourselves. The goal here is specific and achievable. Don't set a long-term goal like "I want to go to Tsinghua University", but set a goal such as: finish a math unit test within 100 minutes or the score requirement is higher than the last time, etc. This kind of practical goal will not make people feel too much pressure, but will also inspire fighting spirit.

Of course, having a goal alone is not enough. We also have to give ourselves some rewards, such as rewarding ourselves with a bag of potato chips after completing this goal. This will allow you to get positive feedback for your efforts in a short period of time, and gain a sense of accomplishment in a timely manner, which is really great! At the same time, it will also motivate you to invest in the next goal as soon as possible. Such a virtuous cycle will help you overcome all obstacles in your studies!