Monday, May 9, 2016

Laptops and tablets may alter the way we think

Gadget reports: "Tablet and laptop users, take note! Using digital platforms for reading may change the way you think, making you more inclined to focus on concrete details rather than interpreting information more abstractly, a new study has found.

The findings serve as another wake-up call to how digital media may be affecting our likelihood of using abstract thought, researchers said.

Scientists from Dartmouth College in the US tested the basic question - would processing the same information on a digital versus non-digital platform affect "construal levels" the fundamental level of concreteness versus abstractness that people use in perceiving and interpreting behaviours, events and other informational stimuli."

The Telegraph reports: "It found that those performing tasks with paper were overwhelmingly more capable of interpreting the meaning of the material, while those using computers would retain particular details.

For example, when choosing between two ways to describe “making a list”, those answering on a computer would select “writing things down”, and those doing so on paper would choose “getting organised”."

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