Gadgets make people forgetful
If you use your mobile phone to store birthdays, appointments, and other simple information, or if you own a PDA or palmtop, chances are that you haven’t memorized your home phone number.
A survey included in a Puzzler Brain Trainer magazine issue revealed that the younger generation – who grew up alongside the current boom of the mobile phone and PDA industry – had trouble memorizing their own landline numbers, or even birthdays of more than three people closest to them.
Researchers found out that the current generation need to remember more and more information due to their work and lifestyle, and turn to technology to store a great portion of day-to-day information. Ian Robertson, professor of psychology in Dublin’s Trinity College concurred, “People have more to remember these days and they are relying on technology more for their memory.”
About two-thirds of the 3,000 people who participated in the survey relied on their phone of electronic organizer to remember dates and phone numbers. Younger people aged 30 and below remembered less information than people aged 50 and above, who grew up without such luxuries.
If you use your mobile phone to store birthdays, appointments, and other simple information, or if you own a PDA or palmtop, chances are that you haven’t memorized your home phone number.
A survey included in a Puzzler Brain Trainer magazine issue revealed that the younger generation – who grew up alongside the current boom of the mobile phone and PDA industry – had trouble memorizing their own landline numbers, or even birthdays of more than three people closest to them.
Researchers found out that the current generation need to remember more and more information due to their work and lifestyle, and turn to technology to store a great portion of day-to-day information. Ian Robertson, professor of psychology in Dublin’s Trinity College concurred, “People have more to remember these days and they are relying on technology more for their memory.”
About two-thirds of the 3,000 people who participated in the survey relied on their phone of electronic organizer to remember dates and phone numbers. Younger people aged 30 and below remembered less information than people aged 50 and above, who grew up without such luxuries.