Using Smartphones Could Help Improve Memory Skills
Summary
Using digital devices, such as smartphones, could help improve memory skills rather than causing people to become lazy or forgetful, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, showed that digital devices help people to store and remember very important information. Neuroscientists have previously expressed concerns that the overuse of technology could result in the breakdown of cognitive abilities and cause “digital dementia”. Senior author Dr. Sam Gilbert, of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said: “We wanted to explore how storing information in a digital device could influence memory abilities. “We found that when people were allowed to use an external memory, the device helped them to remember the information they had saved into it.