Using smartphones can improve memory skills
The latest research study found that using smartphones and other digital devices can improve or boost the memory skills of an individual.
Usually, there is a perception that using smartphones can lead us to laziness and forgetfulness but a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General proved that digital devices help to remember important things more.
Smartphone users find them useful for storing and recalling important information. Users of smartphones can then employ this extra memory space to retain more unimportant details.
Speaking to the media, The senior researcher of the study Sam Gilbert said that the goal of their research was to determine how the usage of gadgets affected memory performance.
“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,” he said. “This was hardly surprising, but we also found that the device improved people’s memory for unsaved information as well.”
He further added, “This was because using the device shifted the way that people used their memory to store high-importance versus low-importance information. When people had to remember by themselves, they used their memory capacity to remember the most important information. But when they could use the device, they saved high-importance information into the device and used their own memory for less important information instead”.
Talking about the results of the research Sam Gilbert said, “The results show that external memory tools work. Far from causing ‘digital dementia’, using an external memory device can even improve our memory for information that we never saved. But we need to be careful that we back up the most important information. Otherwise, if a memory tool fails, we could be left with nothing but lower-importance information in our own memory.”
