I wasn’t sure if this belonged in The Quarantine Zone or here…but I’m posting here because of the broader scope of the question.
When an animal is held in captivity, such as in a zoo, they are given environments and activities that mimic those of the wild in order to optimize their well-being (given the circumstances).
For example, a food treat might be put inside of a puzzle box or a block of ice (depending on the animal and its original environment), so as to encourage the animal’s natural foraging behavior while providing play value. Or a bird would be provided with branches from its native tree, to mimic its natural surroundings.
Technically speaking, we are animals. And at this point in history, we are (somewhat, voluntarily) in captivity. So what is enrichment for humans? Is it different for each individual? Or are there basic behaviors/environments that we, as a species, require universally?
(I just had a funny mental image of a home subway strap sticking off a wall, for those who are missing urban commuting.)
For people, I suspect the best enhancement is other people: a child who has people around who talk to him or her, play with them, etc., is in an enhanced environment compared with a child who doesn’t have those people.
This is why solitary confinement is considered by many (including the UN) to be cruel and inhumane. We are social animals, and separating us from meaningful contact with our fellow animals can be very harmful.
If we did have an enrichment environment, it would include walking around. Humans are built for walking around, and don’t handle not walking around very well. Although it doesn’t kill us immediately. But places where humans are locked up like zoos often include some walking-around time.
Some outdoor activities seem to mimic or reward a human craving for primitive behavior - like one of those zombie chase activities where you have to cross an open field while evading actors dressed as zombies slowly pursuing you (as described to me by a coworker; apparently people pay to participate). That appeals to instinct.
I’m wondering what we use to mimic primitive behaviors such as hunting and gathering. I know some people actually go hunting in the woods. But I wonder if the rest of us substitute, say, “hunting” for an item on eBay or Amazon. And, if that’s the case, is there less enrichment in asking Alexa to purchase the item, than in using a screen and mouse (or screen and finger)?
Some LARP games, or survival/hunting games, appeal to some primitive behavior. There are entire video games dedicated to wildlife hunting and exploration.
Forgive me, my question was unclear. What I meant to ask was, “What are the ones that appeal to our instincts?” (As opposed to ones that we like/enjoy for other reasons.)
I don’t really see that there is a difference. Enjoyment/satisfaction is managed via the complex interaction of a number of neurotransmitters in the brain: dopamine and serotonin are important in this process, but neuroscientists really do not have a good handle on all of the neurotransmitter interactions in the human brain.
Understanding what activities most naturally mimic the way the brain has evolved to respond is therefore not easy. But we can make some assumptions.
The first is to look at human behaviours (not mediated by chemical influences) that are more likely to lead to repetitive behaviour (maybe even leading to addiction). Gambling is a good example. When people gamble, the thrill (or more correctly, the neurophysical response) of a win (even a small win that does not cover existing losses) has a higher impact than that of losing. So it looks as though (for most people) successful attempts (in a variety of tasks) is weighted higher than losses - it doesn’t matter how many failures you have, as long as you win occasionally.
There is another factor to consider - if a task is too easy, then the response to success lessens over time. This means that to maintain interest, success has to be spaced out, and tasks have to get harder over time. Successful and engaging games (particularly computer games) use this strategy of getting harder over time and requiring ongoing failure and retrying to maintain engagement and interest. Again, this response is deeply rooted in the way the brain responds to neurotransmitters over time.
There is another neurotransmitter that is involved in social engagement - oxytocin. Activities with other people that trigger the release of both dopamine and oxytocin build social cohesion and cement social relationships. This includes things like having sex, playing team sports, or gathering together for religious or purely social engagement. We have evolved these responses as early hominids formed tribes and family groups, and carried out group activities such as hunting and food gathering.
At the end of the day, though, we are all individuals - and have greater or lesser responses to these neurophysical drivers. I don’t like gambling/taking risks in any form. But I enjoy playing difficult computer games. I don’t really like team sports, but I do like choral singing. We all find our own place of behavioural enrichment - they are all driven by the way our brain has evolved, but we all respond in slightly different ways to the imperatives of our brain chemistry.
I would say puzzles such as jigsaws and crosswords are examples that might qualify; usually people choose them voluntarily (although often related to confinement by weather, mass transport, illness), but they are purposely-difficult things that have no real-world objective except to provide diversionary entertainment.
Interesting. So you’re saying there is no universal human enrichment. Now that we need to design enrichment for ourselves (the way zoo keepers do for animals), it needs to be customized toward each individual as if we were each members of different species.
That sort of makes you wonder whether “Zoom for everyone” is effective. Yet here we are, doing something other than Zoom (as Chronos has pointed out). And one can use Zoom in different ways…although it has its limitations.
One of those limitations is, due to time lag, people can’t sing together in synchrony over Zoom.
Let me ask you: have you been able to satisfy your penchant for choral singing during lockdown?
Regarding your example of gambling: I once heard/read something interesting about people who play slot machines. Some of them–the ones who like to keep playing for hours and hours–don’t enjoy hitting a jackpot, because it interrupts their trance state of repeatedly pulling the lever (or pushing the button) and watching the reels spin. I don’t know if that’s apocryphal, but if it’s true, there are big differences even among gamblers who play slots–those who play hoping to win, and those who play in order to keep playing. Not to mention other possible variations.
Partnering, making bread, keeping house, raising children, caring for elders, spending time in nature, laughing with friends, mountains, beaches, libraries and art!
With zoo animals, one method of enrichment is having a food reward inside of something (eg, block of ice) that makes the food difficult to remove. The only human examples I’ve been able to come up with are eating lobster and pinatas (you’ll have to imagine that there is a tilde over the n in pinata).
