computer guessed for them In response to a fact-checking email, Delgado expanded his comments: “There were three experiments related to this….[In] the first one (Tricomi et al. 2004), they were told that they would see two circles. Upon seeing the yellow circle for example they would guess as before whether the correct answer was button 1 or 2 and were told that a correct response would yield a monetary reward. If they saw a blue circle they were told to press a button (motor control) but that the button had nothing to do with the reward, it was random. In truth, the reward was random in both cases, but if the subjects believed that their button press mattered, as in the yellow circle condition, then they engaged the striatum response much more than if it was a non-contingent reward. This experiment showed that if participants felt they were in control that the reward response was more prominent. The second experiment took this back to the card guessing game (Delgado et al. 2005) and this time added a cue, like a circle, before each trial that predicted if the card would be high or low. Participants had to learn via trial and error what the cue predicted. This experiment showed that the signal in the striatum was related to learning about the reward, rather than just purely processing the reward value….In [the] third experiment (Leotti and Delgado 2005) we presented subjects with let’s say two cues—a square and a circle. When they saw the square, they knew they would be faced with a 50/50 choice (a guess of sorts) and if they chose correctly, they would get a reward (no losses in this experiment, either a reward or no reward). In this condition, they felt in ‘control.’ Much like my participant who felt they could ‘beat the game.’ The other condition was the no-choice condition. Here, they saw a circle and were faced with the same choice. Except this time the computer picked for them. And if the computer was right they got a reward. So in both conditions one could get a reward (or no reward). But the key difference was that participants either had a choice or the computer chose. Interestingly, people preferred the choice condition, even though such condition required more effort (the actual choice) and led to the same amount of rewards. We also saw that the striatum activity was present to the square (compared to the circle). That is, when participants found out they had a choice, we saw activity in this reward area of the brain, suggesting that the mere opportunity for exerting one’s choice may be rewarding in and of itself.”
believed they were in control For more on Delgado’s work, I recommend Elizabeth M. Tricomi, Mauricio R. Delgado, and Julie A. Fiez, “Modulation of Caudate Activity by Action Contingency,” Neuron 41, no. 2 (2004): 281–92; Mauricio R. Delgado, M. Meredith Gillis, and Elizabeth A. Phelps, “Regulating the Expectation of Reward via Cognitive Strategies,” Nature Neuroscience 11, no. 8 (2008): 880–81; Laura N. Martin and Mauricio R. Delgado, “The Influence of Emotion Regulation on Decision-Making Under Risk,” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23, no. 9 (2011): 2569–81; Lauren A. Leotti and Mauricio R. Delgado, “The Value of Exercising Control over Monetary Gains and Losses,” Psychological Science 25, no. 2 (2014): 596–604; Lauren A. Leotti and Mauricio R. Delgado, “The Inherent Reward of Choice,” Psychological Science 22 (2011): 1310–18.
reported to a boss “Self-Employment in the United States,” Monthly Labor Review, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2010, http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2010/09/art2full.pdf.
otherwise transitory positions A 2006 study by the Government Accountability Office found that 31 percent of workers were in temporary positions.
allocate their energy Michelle Conlin et al., “The Disposable Worker,” Bloomberg Businessweek, January 7, 2010.
“The need for control” Lauren A Leotti, Sheena S. Iyengar, and Kevin N. Ochsner, “Born to Choose: The Origins and Value of the Need for Control,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 14, no. 10 (2010): 457–63.
setbacks faster Diana I. Cordova and Mark R. Lepper, “Intrinsic Motivation and the Process of Learning: Beneficial Effects of Contextualization, Personalization, and Choice,” Journal of Educational Psychology 88, no. 4 (1996): 715; Judith Rodin and Ellen J. Langer, “Long-Term Effects of a Control-Relevant Intervention with the Institutionalized Aged,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35, no. 12 (1977): 897; Rebecca A. Henry and Janet A. Sniezek, “Situational Factors Affecting Judgments of Future Performance,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 54, no. 1 (1993): 104–32; Romin W. Tafarodi, Alan B. Milne, and Alyson J. Smith. “The Confidence of Choice: Evidence for an Augmentation Effect on Self-Perceived Performance,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 25, no. 11 (1999): 1405–16; Jack W. Brehm, “Postdecision Changes in the Desirability of Alternatives,” The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 52, no. 3 (1956): 384; Leon Festinger, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, vol. 2 (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1962); Daryl J. Bem, “An Experimental Analysis of Self-Persuasion,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 1, no. 3 (1965): 199–218; Louisa C. Egan, Laurie R. Santos, and Paul Bloom, “The Origins of Cognitive Dissonance: Evidence from Children and Monkeys,” Psychological Science 18, no. 11 (2007): 978–83.
longer than their peers E. J. Langer and J. Rodin, “The Effects of Choice and Enhanced Personal Responsibility for the Aged: A Field Experiment in an Institutional Setting,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 34, no. 2 (1976): 191–98.
food into their mouths Margaret W. Sullivan and Michael Lewis, “Contextual Determinants of Anger and Other Negative Expressions in Young Infants,” Developmental Psychology 39, no. 4 (2003): 693.
freedom to choose Leotti and Delgado, “Inherent Reward of Choice.”
Psychological Science in 2011 Ibid.
autonomy and self-determination Erika A. Patall, Harris Cooper, and Jorgianne Civey Robinson, “The Effects of Choice on Intrinsic Motivation and Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis of Research Findings,” Psychological Bulletin 134, no. 2 (2008): 270; Deborah J. Stipek and John R. Weisz, “Perceived Personal Control and Academic Achievement,” Review of Educational Research 51, no. 1 (1981): 101–37; Steven W. Abrahams, “Goal-Setting and Intrinsic Motivation: The Effects of Choice and Performance Frame-of-Reference” (PhD diss., Columbia University, 1989); Teresa M. Amabile and Judith Gitomer, “Children’s Artistic Creativity Effects of Choice in Task Materials,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 10, no. 2 (1984): 209–15; D’Arcy A. Becker, “The Effects of Choice on Auditors’ Intrinsic Motivation and Performance,” Behavioral Research in Accounting 9 (1997); Dan Stuart Cohen, “The Effects of Task Choice, Monetary, and Verbal Reward on Intrinsic Motivation: A Closer Look at Deci’s Cognitive Evaluation Theory” (PhD diss., Ohio State University, 1974); Diana I. Cordova and Mark R. Lepper, “Intrinsic Motivation and the Process of Learning: Beneficial Effects of Contextualization, Personalization, and Choice,” Journal of Educational Psychology 88, no. 4 (1996): 715; Hsiao d’Ailly, “The Role of Choice in Children’s Learning: A Distinctive Cultural and Gender Difference in Efficacy, Interest, and Effort,” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science 36, no. 1 (2004): 17; Edward L. Deci, The Psychology of Self-Determination (New York: Free Press, 1980); J. B. Detweiler, R. J. Mendoza, and M. R. Lepper, “Perceived Versus Actual Choice: High Perceived Choice Enhances Children’s Task Engagement,” 8th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, San Francisco, 1996; John J. M. Dwyer, “Effect of Perceived Choice of Music on Exercise Intrinsic Motivation,” Health Values: The Journal of Health Behavior, Education and Promotion 19, no. 2 (1995): 18–26; Gregory G. Feehan and Michael E. Enzle, “Subjective Control over Rewards: Effects of Perceived Choice of Reward Schedule on Intrinsic Motivation and Behavior Maintenance,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 72, no. 3 (1991): 995–1006; Terri Flowerday, Gregory Schraw, and Joseph Stevens, “The Role of Choice and Interest in Reader Engagement,” The Journal of Experimental Education 72, no. 2 (2004): 93–114; Claus A. Hallschmidt, “Intrinsic Motivation: The Effects of Task Choice, Reward Magnitude and Reward Choice” (PhD diss., University of Alberta, 1977); Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper, “Rethinking the Value of Choice: A Cultural Perspective on Intrinsic Motivation,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76, no. 3 (1999): 349; Keven A. Prusak et al., “The Effects of Choice on the Motivation of Adolescent Girls in Physical Education,” Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 23, no. 1 (2004): 19–29; Johnmarshall Reeve, Glen Nix, and Diane Hamm, “Testing Models of the Experience of Self-Determination in Intrinsic Motivation and the Conundrum of Choice,” Journal of Educational Psychology 95, no. 2 (2003): 375; Romin W. Tafarodi, Alan B. Milne, and Alyson J. Smith, “The Confidence of Choice: Evidence for an Augmentation Effect on Self-Perceived Performance,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 25, no. 11 (1999): 1405–16; Miron Zuckerman et al., “On the Importance of Self-Determination for Intrinsically-Motivated Behavior,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 4, no. 3 (1978): 443–46.