The Positive & Negative Influence of Technologies on Cognitive Processes (HL IB Psychology)

How do technologies Influence Cognitive Processes?

Note: You have learnt about cognitive processes as part of the Cognitive Approach e.g. memory and thinking and decision-making. 

How do technologies influence cognitive processes?

• Cognitive processes include functions such as memory, thinking and decision-making, attention, perception, language and information-processing

• Modern technologies include smartphones, the internet, computer games all of which involve the use of cognitive processes, particularly working memory and attention

• We live in an increasingly complex world due to the fast and technical nature of technology but we are also able to access information in ways which would have been unimaginable even a couple of decades ago

• The concept of cognitive overload is one which revolves around the idea that too much exposure to too much technology can overwhelm the individual and result in impaired cognitive and social functioning

• People born prior to the internet and prior to the widely-adopted use of personal computers are known as ‘digital immigrants’ and those born after the establishment of these technologies are known as ‘digital natives’

• There is a school of thought that digital natives cannot function adequately without almost continuous access to their technologies and that this impairs their cognitive processes

• There is another school of thought that modern technologies are beneficial to cognitive processing for both digital natives and digital immigrants alike

Are modern technologies equally accessible to digital natives and digital immigrants?

Arguments for the Positive Influence of Technologies on Cognitive Processes

• One argument for the positive influence of digital technologies is the idea of ‘hyperconnectedness’ which means that an individual can be connected to multiple forms of information and communication e.g. email, forums, blogs, chat sites, texting, social media, multiple-player computer games etc. which gives them access to worlds and people that they would otherwise not have had access to

• Using the internet and multiple simultaneous sources of information e.g scrolling through social media whilst watching TV results in multitasking and moving quickly through personal and work-related tasks which may result in sharper cognitive functions

• Multitasking and changing swiftly between cognitive tasks is linked to System 1 thinking which could be highly adaptive to 21st century life as these skills appear to be increasingly necessary in a range of situations e.g. having several tabs open on a laptop and switching between each of them to fulfil a specific task

• Switching between tasks can be learned via metacognition which is in itself a discipline which may in turn improve and enhance cognitive functioning

Arguments for the negative influence of technologies on cognitive processes

• One argument for the negative influence of digital technologies is the ‘Google effect’: the idea that information is not retained if one simply looks it up using a search engine (i.e. the information is there for future reference so there is no point trying to rehearse the information to transfer it to long-term memory)

• The use of satellite navigation systems is also often quoted as evidence that people cannot function without technology, often following incorrect sat-nav instructions against their better judgement

• There is some concern that technology-based laziness may result in less neuroplasticity and that, instead, neural pruning will occur in the parts of the brain that technology has taken over e.g. the hippocampus for both memory and spatial navigation

• An over-reliance on technologies may also negatively impact social interactions as some research has shown that people who spend more time using a screen lose some ability to recognise faces in real life as screens interfere with the ability to recognise emotion in face-to-face encounters

Are we too attached to our technologies?

Research which investigates the positive and negative influence of technologies on cognitive processes

• Blacker et al. (2014): playing video games may improve visual working memory

• Morina et al. (2015): virtual reality therapy may be an effective treatment for phobias

• Sparrow et al. (2011): the ‘Google effect’ may impair retention and recall of information

• Rosen et al. (2011): multi-tasking may impair learning