Effect of Computers on Cognitive Ability

Psychology

Debate 2: Effect of computers on cognitive ability
Introduction
Technology has contributed to the alteration of human psychology which makes human
beings think, feel, act and dream differently. This not only affects our memory but also our
attention and memory spans. This phenomenon is called as Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity.
Brain plasticity refers to the ability of the brain to modify its connections based on new
behaviors which enables the brain to grow and adapt from infancy to adulthood or recover
after any brain injury. There have been numerous research on the effect of computers and
technology on the cognition of brain, some believe that it computers have positive effects
since it helps people organize their lives and provide deep thinking. While others feel that
technology has crippled the attention span in humans by making them uncreative and
impatient. The intention of this study is to analyze the impact of screen use on cognitive
function which may lead to moderating effects of depression, sleep and other symptoms
thereby reducing cognition.
On Brain Training Games
As mentioned in the article by Abbott (2013), commercial companies have identified that the
computer games have made humans smarter but have possibly shown no significant
improvements in their daily lives. Video games such as NeuroRacer have enabled players to
perform multiple actions on the same time, thereby improving their multitasking skills.
Multitasking requires a mix of real life cognitive skills such as focus, attention, task
switching, and ability to remember multiple things. As per the research conducted in this
article, people from the age group 20-70 and 60-85 were taken to see if computer games are
useful in improving multitasking. The results show that with proper training, the people
between 60-85 age groups showed commendable improvements and but concluded by stating
that such computer games might be useful in treating cognitive deficits such as depression,
anxiety and schizophrenia. According to the article, the older brain is much likely to adapt to
multitasking. In another article by Gazzaley et al. (2013) the topic of cognitive control has
been discussed which is defined by a set of neural processes that enables humans to interact
with their complex environment in a goal-directed manner. Humans are good at multitasking
in this technologically advanced world but this has also shown that there are certain
difficulties in multitasking and deficits of cognitive control in our ageing population. This is