Digital Amnesia: The Smart Phone and the Modern Indian Student
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/nbpc8d15Keywords:
Education, Digital Media,, Memory, TechnologyAbstract
Digital Amnesia or the „Google Effect‟ is a new phenomenon. The „Google Effect‟ refers to the tendency to not remember information, when it can be looked up online. Drawing on this, the term „Digital Amnesia‟ was coined as part of Kaspersky, the cyber security firm‟s study, and refers to the “experience of forgetting information that you an trust an digital device to store and remember for you”. It suggests that in this age of the Internet, the reliance of technology has reached a point wherein gadgets are treated as an extension of the human brain. The presence of Internet and technology is changing the concept of memory. We choose to not remember pieces of information that is stored in our gadgets. While people may choose not to remember phone numbers or important dates, this paper also delves into the concept of memory erosion- if the reliance of technology erodes or tampers with existing memory, and the impact it has on the learning and retention abilities of students. The focus of the paper is primarily on two aspects- the prevalence of digital amnesia among students and its effect on learning. This is a trend paper that uses environmental scanning and future speculative analysis.
Findings: The phenomenon is well established among the students and could be a cause for worry.
Downloads
References
[1] Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., & Seidenberg, M. S. (2013). Cognitive development: gaming your way out of dyslexia?
[2] Current Biology: CB, 23(7), R282–283. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.051
[3] Jain, Pooja. "VISUAL PERSUASION-A CREATIVE ASPECT IN COMMUNICATION." International
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IJHSS)7.3 (2018) 5-12
[4] Anderson MC1, Hanslmayr S (2014). Neural mechanisms of motivated forgetting.
[5] Trends Cogn Sci 18, 279-92.doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.03.002.
[6] Choudhury, S., & McKinney, K. A. (2013). Digital media, the developing brain and the interpretive plasticity of neuroplasticity.
[7] Transcultural Psychiatry, 50(2), 192–215. http://doi.org/10.1177/1363461512474623
[8] Katz, Yaron. "Social Media Is Powerful, but Can It Change Policies of Institutionalized Organizations Such as the Israeli Army?." International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IJHSS) 6.6 (2017): 29-34.
[9] Hasher, L., Lustig, C., &Zacks, R. (2007). Inhibitory mechanisms and the control of attention. In A. Conway, C. Jarrold, M. Kane, A. Miyake, & J. Towse (Eds.), Variation in working memory. New York: Oxford University Press.
[10] Dubey, Ravish, and Mandoria HL. "Study of Different Transformation Algorithms in Digital Image Watermarking." International Journal of Computer Science Engineering and Information Technology Research (IJCSEITR) ISSN (P) (2016): 2249-6831.
[11] Kühn, S., Gleich, T., Lorenz, R. C., Lindenberger, U., &Gallinat, J. (2014). Playing Super Mario induces structural brain plasticity: gray matter changes resulting from training with a commercial video game. Molecular Psychiatry, 19(2), 265–271.
[12] Safori, Amjad Omar, NA Abdul Rahman, and Rosli Mohammed. "The uses of social networking sites among Jordanian journalists." International Journal of Communication and Media Studies (IJCMS) 6.6 (2016): 1-12.Lorenz, R. C., Gleich, T., Gallinat, J., &Kühn, S. (2015). Video game training and the reward system. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 40.
[13] Mills, K. L. (2014). Effects of Internet use on the adolescent brain: despite popular claims, experimental evidence remains scarce. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(8), 385–387.
[14] Roediger HL, Karpicke JD (2006). Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention. PsycholSci, 17, 249-55.
[15] SCAMP | Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from http://www.scampstudy.org/
[16] Storm BC, Stone SM (2015). Saving-enhanced memory: the benefits of saving on the learning and remembering of new information. Psychol Sci 26,182-8.
[17] Günther, Elisabeth, and Emese Domahidi. "What communication scholars write about: An analysis of 80 years of research in high-impact journals." International Journal of Communication 11 (2017): 21.
[18] Sparrow B1, Liu J, Wegner DM. (August 2011) Google effects on memory: cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips. Science. 2011 Aug 5;333(6043):776-8.
[19] Wimber, Alink, Charest, Kriegeskorte, Anderson (2015) Retrieval induces adaptive forgetting of competing memories via cortical pattern suppression Nature Neuroscience 03/2015.
[20] Nerurkar, A. N. U. P. A. M. A. "Online marketing-challenges in future." International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Literature (IMPACT: IJRHAL) Vol 2 (2014): 183-188.
[21] Kaspersky Lab (2015), The rise and impact of Digital Amnesia, https://blog.kaspersky.com/files/2015/06/005-Kaspersky-DigitalAmnesia-19.6.15.pdf ii Kaspersky Lab (2016), Digital Amnesia at work, the risks and rewards of forgetting in business.
[22] Effects of Internet use on the adolescent brain: despite popular claims, experimental evidence remains scarce. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, http://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/pdf/S1364- 6613(14)00106-5.pdf iv Chivers, Tom (2009)
[23] Internet use „may improve brain function in adults, says UCLA study. The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph. co.uk/news/science/science-news/6395627/Internet-use-may-improve-brain- function-in-adults-says-UCLA-study.html v Sparrow B, Lui J & Wegner DM, (2011), Google effects on memory: cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips. Science, http://science.sciencemag.org/content/333/6043/776
[24] http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2012/09/12/is-an-digital-data-overload-shortening-our-attentions- spans-and-making-us-dumber/
[25] Morin M. (2013). Is Your Smartphone Making you Fat and Lazy?. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Times.
[26] Greenfield S. (2013). Screen Technologies. Available at: http://www.susangreenfield.com/science/screen- technologies/ [accessed April 16, 2015
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
