James Clear

Yeah, yeah. Okay. So the four stages are cue, craving, response, and reward. The cue is something that you notice. So for example, you see a plate of cookies on the counter. That's a visual cue. Starts the habit of eating a cookie. The craving is the prediction or the meaning that you assign to that cue. Often happens relatively automatically or quickly.

So you see the plate of cookies and you think, oh, that'll be sweet, sugary, tasty, enjoyable. It's that favorable meaning that leads to that dopamine spike that we talked about that motivates you to take the third step, which is the response. You walk over, you pick the cookie up, you take a bite. And then finally, there's the reward. Oh, it is in fact sweet, sugary, tasty, satisfying.

So you see the plate of cookies and you think, oh, that'll be sweet, sugary, tasty, enjoyable. It's that favorable meaning that leads to that dopamine spike that we talked about that motivates you to take the third step, which is the response. You walk over, you pick the cookie up, you take a bite. And then finally, there's the reward. Oh, it is in fact sweet, sugary, tasty, satisfying.

Now, not every behavior in life is rewarding. Sometimes things have a cost or a consequence. Sometimes they're just kind of neutral and don't really mean a whole lot. If a behavior is not rewarding, then it's unlikely to become a habit because you don't have any reason to repeat it again in the future.

Now, not every behavior in life is rewarding. Sometimes things have a cost or a consequence. Sometimes they're just kind of neutral and don't really mean a whole lot. If a behavior is not rewarding, then it's unlikely to become a habit because you don't have any reason to repeat it again in the future.

You need some kind of positive emotional signal associated with the behavior for you to stick with it. At least, as we've already talked about, an immediate signal that says, hey, that was enjoyable.

You need some kind of positive emotional signal associated with the behavior for you to stick with it. At least, as we've already talked about, an immediate signal that says, hey, that was enjoyable.

It's even more. There have been tons of studies done on variable rewards. The basic answer is yes, you're right. Variable rewards tend to accelerate or intensify behavior.

It's even more. There have been tons of studies done on variable rewards. The basic answer is yes, you're right. Variable rewards tend to accelerate or intensify behavior.

it can get even more twisted than that in the slot machines example because what they have found is that the sweet spot tends to be right around 50 50. you can imagine getting a reward at very different schedules like you could get it 95 of the time or you could get it five percent of the time well if you only get it five percent of the time then you learn pretty quickly like hey this isn't a very fruitful action maybe i should stop doing this but if you get it around 50 50

it can get even more twisted than that in the slot machines example because what they have found is that the sweet spot tends to be right around 50 50. you can imagine getting a reward at very different schedules like you could get it 95 of the time or you could get it five percent of the time well if you only get it five percent of the time then you learn pretty quickly like hey this isn't a very fruitful action maybe i should stop doing this but if you get it around 50 50

tends to work out for you a lot, but not every time. And it still is coming at it like a roughly a random pattern. Even if, you know, over 10,000 trials, it works out to be about 50% of the time, man, you will just keep pressing that slot machine button over and over and over again. There've been studies done on mice where they would get a squirt of sugar water when they poke their nose in a box.

tends to work out for you a lot, but not every time. And it still is coming at it like a roughly a random pattern. Even if, you know, over 10,000 trials, it works out to be about 50% of the time, man, you will just keep pressing that slot machine button over and over and over again. There've been studies done on mice where they would get a squirt of sugar water when they poke their nose in a box.

And if they did it at a variable reward schedule, they would do it. I can't remember the exact number. I want to say it was like 6,000 times in an hour, many, many times. We laugh at it thinking about mice, but we're not that different. The average slot machine player will press the button like 800 times in an hour.

And if they did it at a variable reward schedule, they would do it. I can't remember the exact number. I want to say it was like 6,000 times in an hour, many, many times. We laugh at it thinking about mice, but we're not that different. The average slot machine player will press the button like 800 times in an hour.

And so we're just basically doing the same thing, getting the reward, but not knowing exactly when it's going to happen. it gets you to do it more frequently. And you can think about examples like this in everyday life. Imagine a remote control where the battery's dying and you press the power button, but it doesn't turn on right away. And you're like, God, did that work?

And so we're just basically doing the same thing, getting the reward, but not knowing exactly when it's going to happen. it gets you to do it more frequently. And you can think about examples like this in everyday life. Imagine a remote control where the battery's dying and you press the power button, but it doesn't turn on right away. And you're like, God, did that work?

And then you press it again a little harder. And then maybe you press it again a third time. Now, if you do it eight or nine or 10 times, you're like, okay, the batteries are dead. But if on the second try, it turns on, the variable reward got you to do it again or got you to try the behavior more. So that variable reward schedule is definitely something that can intensify behavior.

And then you press it again a little harder. And then maybe you press it again a third time. Now, if you do it eight or nine or 10 times, you're like, okay, the batteries are dead. But if on the second try, it turns on, the variable reward got you to do it again or got you to try the behavior more. So that variable reward schedule is definitely something that can intensify behavior.

Incredible reference. Yes. Fantastic. Little did we know that Will Ferrell was a cognitive psychology fan.