Smartphones Are Making American’s Dumber, Study Suggests

According to a study from Kaspersky Lab, American’s are becoming lazier at remembering things due to the accessibility of information on smartphones.  

The term “Digital Amnesia” has been coined by the lab and it means forgetting information that you trust a digital device to store and remember for you.

Wtop.com reports:

“The results reveal that the ‘Google Effect’ likely extends beyond online facts to include important personal information,” researchers wrote in the report. “Many consumers are happy to forget, or risk forgetting information they can easily find — or find again online.”

For instance, people 45 and old are more likely to get answers from the web, then write the fact down or choose to forget it once they’ve used it, the survey found.

Ninety-one percent of those surveyed said they use the Internet as an online extension of their brain. Forty-four percent said their smartphone serves as their memory; everything they need to remember is right there in their pocket.

“In many societies, having access to the Internet feels as stable as having access to electricity or running water,” says Dr. Kathryn Mills, with the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London.

“It would be interesting to explore further whether individuals in places where the Internet is unreliable feel greater need to remember contact details or facts, or have a different perspective on information access.”

Full report here.