Key Studies Summary Table: The Influence of Technologies on Cognitive Processes (HL IB Psychology)

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SUMMARY TABLE: KEY STUDIES OF THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGIES ON COGNITIVE PROCESSES

Topic

Two Key Studies

The Positive Influence of Technologies on Cognitive Processes

Use one of these studies to answer a question on the negative influence of technologies too
By using one of these studies for a ‘negative influence’ question you are applying critical thinking i.e. not all technological influence is positive; some research shows that it can also be negative

Blacker et al. (2014)

Morina et al. (2015)

The Negative Influence of Technologies on Cognitive Processes

Use one of these studies to answer a question on the positive influence of technologies too
By using one of these studies for a ‘positive influence’ question you are applying critical thinking i.e. not all technological influence is negative; some research shows that it can also be positive

Sparrow et al. (2011)

Rosen et al. (2011)

How do I use these studies in an exam question on this topic?

HL IB students have a lot of content to cover so the purpose of this revision resource is to slim down and streamline the number of studies you need per topic/exam question
The exam question will ask you to either ‘Evaluate’ or ‘Discuss’ either the positive or the negative influence of technologies on cognitive processes
You may also be asked ‘To what extent’ technology has a positive or negative effect on cognitive processes
For any of the above questions (evaluate, discuss, to what extent) you can use all of the studies presented in the summary table here
If you are asked to (for example) ‘Discuss the positive influence of technologies on cognitive processes’ you could use BOTH Blacker et al. (2014) and Morina et al. (2015) plus ONE of the negative influence studies (possibly in less depth) as a counter-argument (Sparrow et al. 2011 or Rosen et al. 2011)
Another solution to the above strategy would be to use either Blacker et al (2014) OR Morina et al. (2015) plus ONE of the negative influence studies in depth for a counter-argument
Whichever solution or strategy you use in the exam for a question on this topic remember to acknowledge that technologies cannot have a purely positive or negative effect on cognitive processes - always bring in critical thinking and counter-arguments
Remember that the HL questions will only ever appear on Paper 1 Section B (ERQ = 22 marks), never on Section A

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