to minimize audience habituation
Did you mean maximize? Slot machines, for example, do not minimize habituation.
You could say that slot machines maximize habituation to losing, or minimize habituation to winning.
I meant checking and seeing an update to be the stimulus, not checking and seeing no update. Though I see why the latter is useful (to talk about the habit of checking despite disappointment).
Update: This post has also been superseded - new comments belong in the latest thread.
The second thread has now also exceeded 500 comments, so after 42 chapters of MoR it's time for a new thread.
From the first thread: