The Pavlov Poke

You sit down to your computer to get some work done, but before you know it, you've opened your browser and wasted an hour checking out Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. Robert Morris and Dan McDuff, doctoral students at MIT, were frustrated by the constant distractions of those sites, so they built a system to keep them away.

Their invention, the Pavlov Poke, literally shocks users when they wander away from what they should be doing. On my America Weekend show, Robert explained how it worked, how effective he and Dan found it, and whether they're really putting their invention on the market. He also revealed another system they developed that involves strangers calling you to remind you to get back to work.

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Here's the Pavlov Poke in action...

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