What they do with the memory of the Internet and the smartphone, and whether it is possible to deal with it
A Life / / December 19, 2019
How technology affects our memory
Available online is the digital amnesia
If a person knows that at any moment can find information, he remembers it much worse. This feature is found in the studySmartphones and Cognition: A Review of Research Exploring the Links between Mobile Technology Habits and Cognitive Functioning and called "digital amnesia" or "the effect of the Google".
Participants were asked to write on the computer a few facts. Then they were divided into two groups, one was told that they will have access to information at any time, while others reported that the data after some time to remove.
As a result, the participants assured free access to the information memorized facts are much worse than those who did not expect to see a record again.
Due to the constant access to the Internet there is a shift in the knowledge that we remember good sources of information, and the data quickly evaporate. Thus, we get some addiction from their gadgets.
Photos erase memories
We can capture any event on your smartphone's camera, but it weakens our own memory of what was happening.
This effect was discovered in one studyPoint-and-shoot memories: the influence of taking photos on memory for a museum tour. Participants were given cameras and sent to the museum tour, asking to remove only certain objects, and others just watch. As a result, people are better remembered artifacts which are not present in the photo.
On the one hand when shooting an object, it is stored you worse. But on the other hand, you can always see the photos and the details in the memory refresh, which would never have remembered themselves.
At least this is true for conventional media, which remain on your devices. However, if you shoot photos and video for Snapchat, stories Instagram and "VKontakte", information is not only remembered for worse, but always disappear over time.
We remember what was not
We can quite forget an event, remember it completely different or even think of the past, which was not.
In one interesting experimentA picture is worth a thousand lies: Using false photographs to create false childhood participants were shown fake photos, claiming that it is their children's pictures. People not only suspected a dirty trick, but "remember" the events depicted in the photo.
This can be explained by the ability of the brain to adapt to new experiences. the flow of information from the Internet and social networks influence our perception and can create false memories.
Is it possible to restore the memory
Smartphone and Internet really inhibit our memory and to some extent separate us from reality. But this process is reversible: as well as many other functions, memory is strengthened if it train.
In fact, memory - is communication between nerve cells in the brain. Training it, you make stronger neural paths. A shifting of the features on gadgets, on the contrary, weakens the link.
However, even if you are so used to a smartphone, without reminders not remember your birthday, you can always restore the memory. For example, studies show that daily half-month training improvesN-back Versus Complex Span Working Memory Training short-term memory by 30%.
And if you dedicate it enough time and effort, you can achieve incredible results. For example, an American student Alex Mullen (Alex Mullen) startedHow to avoid losing your memory in the digital age train your memory, to learn better, and soon won the championship twice the memory of the International Association and set several records.
And Joshua Foeyru (Joshua Foer) took only one year of training to become a journalist from scattered in the United States for memorizing champion. After that, he wrote the bestseller "Einstein walking on the moon"That inspired many people, including Mullen, to improve their memory.
A Kermode Katie (Katie Kermode) thanks to a technique called "memory palace" has established two world records: in five minutes memorized 150 faces and names, but for 15 minutes - 318 random words. We understand the video below this technique.
But while technology has a great influence on the work of the brain, to go to extremes still not worth it. If your smartphone is partially replace your memory, and it does not prevent to live, nothing to worry about. Well, if you want to be less dependent on the gadget and more information stored in the head, never too late to start training and improve their skills.
see also🧐
- 14 Natural Ways to Improve Memory
- How to improve short-term memory
- 14 memory traps, which change our past and affect the future