🔁🎉 Operant Conditioning

How rewards & consequences shape behaviour and how Jolt uses both to build better habits.

Introduction

Operant Conditioning is a core theory in behavioural psychology. It states that behaviour is shaped by its outcomes:

When an action is followed by a reward, we’re more likely to repeat it.
When it’s followed by a punishment or friction, we’re less likely to do it again.

This feedback loop forms the foundation of habit building — and habit breaking.

Much of your screen time is driven by reinforcement:

But that also means your brain is trainable and your habits can be reshaped.

To do that, you need the right structure:

→ Positive reinforcement for good behaviours,

→ Gentle friction for the ones you want to reduce.

Jolt uses Operant Conditioning to help you feel rewarded for focus and gently nudged away from distraction:

1. Streaks & Celebrations

Every time you stay within limits or complete a session, your streak grows and you’re visually rewarded with badges, affirmations, or progress tracking.

→ This reinforces consistency and motivates sustained behavior.
2. Micro-Frictions

Small delays (like snooze wait timers or breathing screens) make distracting behaviors less satisfying.

→ Over time, these subtle “punishers” reduce how often you act on impulse.

Habits don’t just happen.

They’re trained and Jolt trains yours to work for you.