Video

The Psychological Itch That Makes a Smartphone Irresistible

Apr 2017 🇺🇸 PBS NewsHour

In this short PBS NewsHour segment, Adam Alter describes smartphones and tablets as designed to satisfy what he calls a 'psychological itch' — a recurring urge to check, scroll, or refresh that he links to boredom and loneliness rather than to any single device feature. Drawing on his own graduate-school experience with an online game, Alter explains why he sees constant device-checking as a learned habit reinforced by unpredictable rewards, and associates this pattern with reduced downtime and reflection in daily life. He recommends building deliberate screen-free stretches into the day rather than attempting total avoidance. TechKids Foundation includes this segment as an accessible, mainstream-news explanation of the association between app design and compulsive checking behavior, aimed at a general audience that includes parents.

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CITATION

"The Psychological Itch That Makes a Smartphone Irresistible." PBS NewsHour, April 21, 2017. https://www.pbs.org/video/the-psychological-itch-that-makes-a-smartphone-irresistible-1492816739

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