The Dopamine Loop: How App Developers Design for Addiction
Every time we receive a notification on our phones, our brains experience a tiny micro-dose of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with reward and motivation. Over time, these unpredictable alerts biologically condition us to constantly check our screens. Neuroscientists have used fMRI scans to show that the brain's ventral striatum—the key hub of the reward circuit—lights up in response to social media 'likes' in a manner highly similar to substance abuse.
Adapted from a digital wellness commentary, 2022.
Outline two defining principles and concepts of the biological approach in psychology and briefly explain how this approach can be related to the article above.
135 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Areas, covering Social, Cognitive, Developmental, Biological, and Individual differences. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.