
{"id":171712,"date":"2025-01-06T04:14:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T03:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/du-kan-aande-lettet-op-vi-er-ikke-slaver-af-sociale-medier\/"},"modified":"2025-01-06T12:15:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T11:15:30","slug":"sigh-of-relief-we-are-not-slaves-to-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/sigh-of-relief-we-are-not-slaves-to-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Sigh of relief: We are not slaves to social media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Oxford English Dictionary has just named <em>brain rot<\/em> the Word of the Year. It describes the \u00bbsupposed deterioration of a person\u2019s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>But if you have been concerned that social media will inevitably turn us all into zombies, spaced out on Meta or TikTok, you can now breathe a sigh of relief. Research at the University of Copenhagen has discovered something completely new about us.<\/p>\n<p>When we scroll on our phone, what we do is not just conditioned by ingrained habit or media manipulation according to a new cognition psychology experiment.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbOur research suggests that what we do on social media depends more on the value we expect to get out of clicking on different icons than on our automatic reaction and habits,\u00ab says Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum, who is associate professor at the Department of Psychology and Section for Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).<\/p>\n<p>He and his research colleague Professor S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k have authored a new study with the title <a href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/fulltext\/2024-78669-001.html\">\u2018Testing Biased Competition Between Attention Shifts\u2019: The New Multiple Cue Diagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Our experiment suggests that social media do not overload or ruin our ability to focus our attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Communication<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It is part of a larger research project that is supported by DKK 19 million from the Carlsberg Foundation and which aims to investigate mechanisms for selecting attention shifts and action plans.<\/p>\n<p>By using a combination of psychological experiments and mathematical models, they have been able to demonstrate that it is a reward, rather than a habit that determines what we are attracted to in our closest visual environment.<\/p>\n<p>According to the two researchers, the preconception in the field of psychology is that habits and routines are almost impossible for us to break. This view is now challenged.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbFor the first time, an experiment shows that if an action is important enough, then a new and non-habitual action may well compete with the ingrained habit,\u00ab says S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers have designed their experiment so that trial participants have to choose between performing several different actions almost simultaneously. It is a situation that in many ways resembles reality on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe have shown that the participants&#8217; use of visual displays, such as a smartphone screen, is not only controlled by the icon that flashes the most. Instead, participants end up shifting their attention to the icon that is crucial for whether they can achieve the goal that has the highest value for them,\u00ab says Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum.<\/p>\n<h3>Ingenious experiment<\/h3>\n<p>The experiment which has led to the surprising conclusion, has required thorough training of the participants, even though it sounds simple: Sit down in front of a computer and press a button whenever numbers and letters appear.<br \/>\n<!-- end of module 1 --><br \/>\nThe responses could be exchanged for money. In the real world, of course, the reward is often a social one. For their participation, the test subjects received an average DKK 500 for their responses, on top of a fixed hourly rate.<\/p>\n<h3>Degrees of consciousness<\/h3>\n<p>The two researchers have in this way demonstrated that the human ability to shift attention actually works amazingly well in different areas. Our brains are able to select exactly the information, objects, and actions needed to get us the reward we want.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">New degree programme<\/p>\n<p>Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum and S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k have done several research projects together since 2010.<\/p>\n<p>And they have helped start a new <a href=\"https:\/\/psy.ku.dk\/uddannelser\/bacheloruddannelsen-i-kognitions-og-datavidenskab\/\">bachelor&#8217;s degree programme in cognition and data science<\/a> at the Department of Psychology as a collaboration between the Science, Humanities and Health faculties at UCPH.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00bbWe wanted to understand the factors that help determine where you shift your attention when it is possible to do many things at the same time,\u00ab says S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k.<\/p>\n<p>Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum gives an example from daily life:<\/p>\n<p>If a person takes out his mobile phone to just pass the time, what is it that determines what he becomes aware of? Is it his ingrained habits, the icon that flashes the most on the screen, or is it a completely different mechanism?<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThat&#8217;s why we&#8217;re particularly interested in investigating situations where you can&#8217;t make a conscious choice \u2013 because you don&#8217;t have the time to think. In these cases, you might think that our habits take over, but our results show that even under these conditions, a person&#8217;s personal values override their habits,\u00ab S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k adds.<\/p>\n<h3>Social media can still manipulate<\/h3>\n<p>The media can still take advantage of our reward system \u2013 so that we end up spending a lot of time on something that we are not really interested in in the long term.<\/p>\n<p>But what is new is that subjective value plays a major role in the way we notice, and what actions we perform \u2013 even when it happens quickly and unconsciously. If we&#8217;re vulnerable online, it&#8217;s less because our attention is blindly pushed around and manipulated, and far more because we actively pursue the information that can reward us the most.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYou often hear that our habits, combined with the information overload of social media, can turn us into zombies on the web, so we can&#8217;t concentrate properly on anything. But our experiment suggests that social media do not overload or ruin our ability to pay attention,\u00ab says Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe are perfectly capable of selecting the information that we consider important in relation to the action we want to perform\u00ab.<br \/>\n<!-- end of module 2 --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Experiment in the field of cognitive psychology shows that social media do not overload or ruin our attention capacity. We are actually good at choosing the information we consider valuable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":171097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sigh of relief: We are not slaves to social media \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Experiment in the field of cognitive psychology shows that social media do not overload or ruin our attention capacity. 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08:41:33","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2400,"height":1600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-2048x1365.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Professor S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k (left) and Associate Professor Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum. They have collaborated for years on an experiment that shows how little, or how much, our habits matter relative to our goals and desires when we are exposed to virtual stimuli."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Psychology","text":"This is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The Oxford English Dictionary has just named <em>brain rot<\/em> the Word of the Year. It describes the \u00bbsupposed deterioration of a person\u2019s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>But if you have been concerned that social media will inevitably turn us all into zombies, spaced out on Meta or TikTok, you can now breathe a sigh of relief. Research at the University of Copenhagen has discovered something completely new about us.<\/p>\n<p>When we scroll on our phone, what we do is not just conditioned by ingrained habit or media manipulation according to a new cognition psychology experiment.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbOur research suggests that what we do on social media depends more on the value we expect to get out of clicking on different icons than on our automatic reaction and habits,\u00ab says Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum, who is associate professor at the Department of Psychology and Section for Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).<\/p>\n<p>He and his research colleague Professor S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k have authored a new study with the title <a href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/fulltext\/2024-78669-001.html\">\u2018Testing Biased Competition Between Attention Shifts\u2019: The New Multiple Cue Diagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Our experiment suggests that social media do not overload or ruin our ability to focus our attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Communication<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It is part of a larger research project that is supported by DKK 19 million from the Carlsberg Foundation and which aims to investigate mechanisms for selecting attention shifts and action plans.<\/p>\n<p>By using a combination of psychological experiments and mathematical models, they have been able to demonstrate that it is a reward, rather than a habit that determines what we are attracted to in our closest visual environment.<\/p>\n<p>According to the two researchers, the preconception in the field of psychology is that habits and routines are almost impossible for us to break. This view is now challenged.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbFor the first time, an experiment shows that if an action is important enough, then a new and non-habitual action may well compete with the ingrained habit,\u00ab says S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers have designed their experiment so that trial participants have to choose between performing several different actions almost simultaneously. It is a situation that in many ways resembles reality on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe have shown that the participants&#8217; use of visual displays, such as a smartphone screen, is not only controlled by the icon that flashes the most. Instead, participants end up shifting their attention to the icon that is crucial for whether they can achieve the goal that has the highest value for them,\u00ab says Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum.<\/p>\n<h3>Ingenious experiment<\/h3>\n<p>The experiment which has led to the surprising conclusion, has required thorough training of the participants, even though it sounds simple: Sit down in front of a computer and press a button whenever numbers and letters appear.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"MultiImage","images":[{"image":{"ID":170890,"id":170890,"title":"Psykologer S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k og Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum, Institut for psykologi forskning i sociale medier05","filename":"dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web.jpg","filesize":97396,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/du-kan-aande-lettet-op-vi-er-ikke-slaver-af-sociale-medier\/dsc_2266-psykologi-soeren-kyllingsbaek-og-thor-gruenbaum_web\/","alt":"","author":"8","description":"","caption":"Et typisk display brugt til optr\u00e6ning af fors\u00f8gspersonerne i eksperimentet. De fleste medvirkende er studerende, der f\u00f8rst skulle holde \u00f8je med de fire hvide rubrikker nederst, hvor der til at begynde kun stod et '#' inde i dem. Pludselig viser der sig i stedet nogle tal, og de skulle s\u00e5 v\u00e6lge rubrikken med det h\u00f8jeste tal - der ogs\u00e5 gav den h\u00f8jeste bel\u00f8nning.","name":"dsc_2266-psykologi-soeren-kyllingsbaek-og-thor-gruenbaum_web","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":170886,"date":"2024-12-05 09:22:41","modified":"2025-10-16 08:41:56","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1600,"height":1068,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-768x513.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":513,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-1280x854.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":854,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-1536x1025.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1025,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":1068,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-290x194.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":194,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2266psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-990x661.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":661}},"caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"A typical display used for training the test subjects in the experiment. Most of the participants were students who first had to keep an eye on the four white boxes at the bottom of this picture, where at first there was only a '#' inside them. Suddenly, numbers appear, and they have to choose the box with the highest number - which also gave the highest reward."},{"image":{"ID":170892,"id":170892,"title":"Psykologer S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k og Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum, Institut for psykologi forskning i sociale medier04","filename":"dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web.jpg","filesize":115208,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/du-kan-aande-lettet-op-vi-er-ikke-slaver-af-sociale-medier\/dsc_2278-psykologi-soeren-kyllingsbaek-og-thor-gruenbaum_web\/","alt":"","author":"8","description":"","caption":"Fra den valgte rubrik skulle de s\u00e5 f\u00f8lge den r\u00f8de streg ud til det tilh\u00f8rende bogstav, som de indtastede som det rigtige svar for at f\u00e5 en bel\u00f8nning. S\u00e5dan k\u00f8rte eksperimentet op til tusind gange over to-tre dage, hvor de hver gang havde et halvt sekund til at svare. ","name":"dsc_2278-psykologi-soeren-kyllingsbaek-og-thor-gruenbaum_web","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":170886,"date":"2024-12-05 09:22:42","modified":"2025-10-16 08:41:46","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1600,"height":1068,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-768x513.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":513,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-1280x854.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":854,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-1536x1025.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1025,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":1068,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-290x194.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":194,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2278psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_web-990x661.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":661}},"caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"From the chosen box, they had to follow the red line next to the corresponding letter, which they then typed in as the correct answer in order to receive a reward. This experiment ran up to a thousand times over two to three days, where each time they had half a second to answer."}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The responses could be exchanged for money. In the real world, of course, the reward is often a social one. For their participation, the test subjects received an average DKK 500 for their responses, on top of a fixed hourly rate.<\/p>\n<h3>Degrees of consciousness<\/h3>\n<p>The two researchers have in this way demonstrated that the human ability to shift attention actually works amazingly well in different areas. Our brains are able to select exactly the information, objects, and actions needed to get us the reward we want.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">New degree programme<\/p>\n<p>Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum and S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k have done several research projects together since 2010.<\/p>\n<p>And they have helped start a new <a href=\"https:\/\/psy.ku.dk\/uddannelser\/bacheloruddannelsen-i-kognitions-og-datavidenskab\/\">bachelor&#8217;s degree programme in cognition and data science<\/a> at the Department of Psychology as a collaboration between the Science, Humanities and Health faculties at UCPH.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00bbWe wanted to understand the factors that help determine where you shift your attention when it is possible to do many things at the same time,\u00ab says S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k.<\/p>\n<p>Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum gives an example from daily life:<\/p>\n<p>If a person takes out his mobile phone to just pass the time, what is it that determines what he becomes aware of? Is it his ingrained habits, the icon that flashes the most on the screen, or is it a completely different mechanism?<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThat&#8217;s why we&#8217;re particularly interested in investigating situations where you can&#8217;t make a conscious choice \u2013 because you don&#8217;t have the time to think. In these cases, you might think that our habits take over, but our results show that even under these conditions, a person&#8217;s personal values override their habits,\u00ab S\u00f8ren Kyllingsb\u00e6k adds.<\/p>\n<h3>Social media can still manipulate<\/h3>\n<p>The media can still take advantage of our reward system \u2013 so that we end up spending a lot of time on something that we are not really interested in in the long term.<\/p>\n<p>But what is new is that subjective value plays a major role in the way we notice, and what actions we perform \u2013 even when it happens quickly and unconsciously. If we&#8217;re vulnerable online, it&#8217;s less because our attention is blindly pushed around and manipulated, and far more because we actively pursue the information that can reward us the most.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYou often hear that our habits, combined with the information overload of social media, can turn us into zombies on the web, so we can&#8217;t concentrate properly on anything. But our experiment suggests that social media do not overload or ruin our ability to pay attention,\u00ab says Thor Gr\u00fcnbaum.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe are perfectly capable of selecting the information that we consider important in relation to the action we want to perform\u00ab.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with our top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11488,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dsc_2282psykologisoerenkyllingsbaekogthorgrunbaum_facebook-1280x563.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171712"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171713,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171712\/revisions\/171713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}