In the psychological study of learning, there has been a lot of research on how to reinforce behaviours. Of particular interest is the timing of rewards. If you want someone to keep doing something, do you reward them every time they do it? Or do you reward them only some of the time?
Well, it turns out that if you want somebody (or somerat) to do something a lot, and keep doing it, it’s best to reward them only some of the time, and to randomly determine whether they will get rewarded or not. This is called a variable ratio schedule. If you don’t believe me, here is a graph with writing and numbers. Graphs do not lie:
This is why gambling is so addictive. You get rewarded for pulling that lever, but randomly and only every so often. It may also be why checking email can be addictive. Clicking that inbox gets rewarded with a message, but only sometimes.
I think this also applies to ice cream. As we all know, the best part of many ice creams is the chunks. Vanilla ice cream is OK on its own, but in a spoonful with a nice big chunk of cookie dough or a brownie bit, it’s infinitely more rewarding.
But usually, in a tub of, say, 100 spoonfuls, there can only be, say, 25 spoonfuls that contain yummy chunks. And since the chunks are randomly distributed throughout the tub of ice cream, each spoonful only has about a 25% chance of containing a chunk. If eating a spoonful of ice cream is the behaviour and chunks are the reward, this is what we call a VR4 (variable ratio 4) schedule; reinforcement is random, but on average, every 4th behaviour is rewarded. It’s the perfect recipe for making someone eat ice cream quickly, and keep eating it.
This is why I eat so much ice cream. It’s friggin’ science. And while I often complain that there are not enough chunks in ice cream, it’s clear that ice cream manufacturers have outsmarted me. It wouldn’t be quite so addictive if every spoonful had a chunk.
It’s also why you shouldn’t eat right from the tub. With the magic of psychology at work, you would probably eat the entire tub in the time it takes to, say, write a blog post about the psychology of ice cream.
*burp*
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P.S. If you do a Google image search for “Reese ice cream”, you will find a surprising number of pictures of Reese Witherspoon eating ice cream. She, too, must be a victim of variable ratio reinforcement.
Phronk.com 
Comments
16 responses to “The Psychology of Ice Cream”
You have contributed to what has turned into a general theme this Friday. It has been slow in the office, the phones aren’t ringing…so we’re sitting around talking about raw cookie dough, frosties and ice cream. I would rather be eating it.
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You have contributed to what has turned into a general theme this Friday. It has been slow in the office, the phones aren’t ringing…so we’re sitting around talking about raw cookie dough, frosties and ice cream. I would rather be eating it.
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Ok, you’re really weird.Chunky ice cream is yucky. I don’t like to chew my ice cream, it’s just not right.
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Ok, you’re really weird.Chunky ice cream is yucky. I don’t like to chew my ice cream, it’s just not right.
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Stats and research would have been far more interesting classes to take if they used ice cream to teach it
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Stats and research would have been far more interesting classes to take if they used ice cream to teach it
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If they taught my stats class this way, more people would’ve attended.
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If they taught my stats class this way, more people would’ve attended.
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Sirbarrett: Ice cream vibes must’ve been in the air. Too bad it didn’t rain ice cream though.Jen: YOU’re really weird. Without chunks it’s barely food. Every bite is the same. I’d rather chug coffee creamer.Sunmyst & Sunmyst: Well, next time you wanna learn stats, just send that tuition money to me and I’ll create a few more lessons using ice cream.
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Sirbarrett: Ice cream vibes must’ve been in the air. Too bad it didn’t rain ice cream though.Jen: YOU’re really weird. Without chunks it’s barely food. Every bite is the same. I’d rather chug coffee creamer.Sunmyst & Sunmyst: Well, next time you wanna learn stats, just send that tuition money to me and I’ll create a few more lessons using ice cream.
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Funny, on Friday a dietician I work with and I were discussing the best chocolate ice cream- currently she is addicted to my choice, chocolate fudge crackle by PC. Dude, when are we going for ice cream again?
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Funny, on Friday a dietician I work with and I were discussing the best chocolate ice cream- currently she is addicted to my choice, chocolate fudge crackle by PC. Dude, when are we going for ice cream again?
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If a dietitian is addicted to ice cream, it must be good for you.Dude, Marble Slab? Any time. I can’t resist its custom-made chunks.
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If a dietitian is addicted to ice cream, it must be good for you.Dude, Marble Slab? Any time. I can’t resist its custom-made chunks.
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I am a real Ice cream junkie and PC Chocolate Fudge Crackle Chocolate Ice Cream is the best I ever had. I am now on a 12 steps program to try to kick off. I am getting fat 😉
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I am a real Ice cream junkie and PC Chocolate Fudge Crackle Chocolate Ice Cream is the best I ever had. I am now on a 12 steps program to try to kick off. I am getting fat 😉
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