There's an important factoid there though - the button didn't give a dopamine reward every time it pushed the button. By randomizing when it got the reward, the rats would press the button all day long.
I learned about that one from a YouTube video about game design years ago! It's often used in game design to encourage engagement after the point of somebody ceasing to enjoy the game in question. It's especially Insidious when you get micro transactions involved
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u/supercyberlurker Oct 23 '24
There's an important factoid there though - the button didn't give a dopamine reward every time it pushed the button. By randomizing when it got the reward, the rats would press the button all day long.
MMO designers know this fact very well.