An exploratory study into the effects of smart devices on short-term memory
Vitamo, Niko (2022)
Vitamo, Niko
2022
Englannin kielen ja kirjallisuuden maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in English Language and Literature
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2022-06-10
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202205195090
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202205195090
Tiivistelmä
During the last three centuries, humankind has seen a rapid increase in the number of new and emergent technological innovations. This emergence of new technologies begun relatively slowly, but quickly started accelerating as the previously invented technologies aided the invention of further technologies. The acceleration of technological progress has now led humankind to the point where the emergence and adoption of technology far surpasses our capacity to fully comprehend the impact that these technologies could have on our societies before said technologies are adopted.
This thesis and the largely exploratory study within investigate the effects that smart devices have on short-term memory. Smart devices were chosen as the focus due to the speed at which they have spread all across the world and their ubiquity. A number of previous studies have already found that smart devices have a substantial negative effect on multiple aspects of human cognition; attention, task performance, and memory all suffer due to the influence of smart devices. The goal of the present study is to investigate whether reading a text by using a smart device leads to less information retained compared to reading a text from a paper, and to use the results of the study to judge whether this subject is in fact worth investigating in further detail.
A total of twelve participants were recruited for the study. The study participants were divided into two groups and were tasked complete two tasks on subsequent days. The first task tasked both groups to first read a text, group 1 read the first text using a smart device and group 2 read the text from paper, and then to complete a brief multiple choice test. Task 2 was much the same as the first task, but this time group 2 was to read a text using a smart device and group 1 was to read a text from paper. The results of the multiple choice tests were then analysed and it was discovered that reading a text using a smart device has a substantial negative impact on short-term memory on individual and group wide levels, as well as across the groups, which therefore indicates that the subject is indeed worth studying in further detail.
This thesis and the largely exploratory study within investigate the effects that smart devices have on short-term memory. Smart devices were chosen as the focus due to the speed at which they have spread all across the world and their ubiquity. A number of previous studies have already found that smart devices have a substantial negative effect on multiple aspects of human cognition; attention, task performance, and memory all suffer due to the influence of smart devices. The goal of the present study is to investigate whether reading a text by using a smart device leads to less information retained compared to reading a text from a paper, and to use the results of the study to judge whether this subject is in fact worth investigating in further detail.
A total of twelve participants were recruited for the study. The study participants were divided into two groups and were tasked complete two tasks on subsequent days. The first task tasked both groups to first read a text, group 1 read the first text using a smart device and group 2 read the text from paper, and then to complete a brief multiple choice test. Task 2 was much the same as the first task, but this time group 2 was to read a text using a smart device and group 1 was to read a text from paper. The results of the multiple choice tests were then analysed and it was discovered that reading a text using a smart device has a substantial negative impact on short-term memory on individual and group wide levels, as well as across the groups, which therefore indicates that the subject is indeed worth studying in further detail.