IB Docs (2) Team
Introducing technology and cognition
Studying the effects of technology
After completing this lesson, you should be able to:
- Evaluate the research methods used to study the effects of technology.
- Explain the limitations of research on the effects of technology on cognitive processes.
Before beginning this section of the model, please read The digital world. After completing this component, you should be able to discuss the following terms with regard to the study of the effects of digital technology on cognitive processes:
- Encoding hypothesis
- External storage hypothesis
- Natural experiments
- Prospective vs retrospective approaches to research
- Social desirability effect
Before starting this module take a few minutes to watch (or rewatch) the following video.
1972 The first video games
1975 The first personal computer (The Apple PC was in 1976)
1991 The Internet (WWW) became publically available. It was not common in most homes until 2001.
1992 The first smartphone - although they did not become popular until 2010.
1994 Laptops become popular
1997 The first social media
2004 The birth of Facebook
2010 The birth of Instagram
Experimental research
In the reading, you should have read the study by Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014).
For each of the following statements about the study, decide whether the statement is true or false.
1. The study was a repeated measures design.
False. In this experiment, the study is done in two parts, but this is not a repeated measures design because each group only experiences one level of the independent variable. In a repeated measures design, all participants take part in all conditions.
2. The results showed that participants who took notes on the laptop were stronger in recalling factual knowledge than conceptual knowledge.
False. In all cases, students were better at recalling the conceptual information than the factual information.
3. The study is highly standardized and could be replicated in order to determine the reliability of the findings.
True. When a study is highly standardized, it is easier for other researchers to replicate the study with the goal of getting similar results.
4. The study has high ecological validity.
False. Although students are used to listening to lectures and taking notes, they do not often take notes on lectures where they are not aware what the topic will be. In addition, knowing that they are in an experiment may change their behaviour. The relatively high level of control of the experiment, in addition to the artificial situation, lowers the ecological validity of the study.
5. Participant variability was not controlled for in this study.
True. Since the study was an independent samples design, it is possible that traits of participants in one group (e.g. IQ, attention span, level of fatigue) may have influenced their results compared to the other group.
When writing about the use of experiments in the study of technology and cognition, remember the following key points:
- Only when a researcher manipulates an independent variable and measures its effect on a dependent variable under controlled conditions can we determine a cause and effect relationship.
- Most experiments are cross-sectional - that is, they do not predict the long-term effects of the independent variable.
- When discussing experiments we discuss the balance between internal and ecological validity. Internal validity is high when the study is well controlled, guaranteeing that the IV is affecting the DV - and not some other variable. When internal validity is high, ecological validity is low - as a high level of control does not predict how a person will behave under normal conditions.
- Experiments that are highly standardized can be replicated. This increases the potential reliability of the findings.
- Simply knowing that one is a participant in an experiment may lead to demand characteristics. For example, if participants behave in the way that they think that the researcher wants them to behave, this is an example of the expectancy effect.
Questionnaires
It is not always possible to manipulate an independent variable. When that happens, we are reliant on non-experimental research. One of the most common methods is the survey or questionnaire. A survey collects quantitative data - whereas a questionnaire collects qualitative data. In the study of the effects of technology on cognition, this is usually done "online."
Research conducted with surveys and questionnaires raises concerns in terms of both internal and external validity.
One limitation is social desirability effect. Even when the data is collected anonymously it remains true that many participants will be reluctant to provide any information about themselves which could be negatively judged. For example, people are unwilling to honestly describe what they are doing when they are online; the use of pornography and online gambling is certainly likely to be under-represented in any survey seeking to measure Internet use.
Another limitation is optimism bias - that is, people tend to over-estimate the amount of time they spend on healthy behaviours and under-estimate the amount of time they spend on unhealthy behaviours. This is because it is very difficult for us, for example, to estimate how many hours a week we spend on the Internet - unless we actually measure it!
Another limitation is sampling bias. Questionnaires are often sent out to very large numbers of people on the assumption that only some of them will choose to respond. People that fill out a questionnaire may have a particular interest in the topic and, of course, have access to the Internet.
Thinking about research: Chen and Peng (2008)
Read the following study and then answer the questions below. Try to answer each question in your notebook before looking at the sample response.
Chen and Peng (2008) wanted to see if there was a correlation between Internet use and university students' academic performance and interpersonal relationships.
A stratified sample of 49,609 students was randomly selected from Taiwanese universities. They were asked to complete an online questionnaire.
The researchers found that students who were "low" Internet and social media users had better relationships with administrative staff, academic grades, and learning satisfaction than heavy Internet users. Heavy users were more likely than non-heavy Internet users to be depressed, physically ill, and lonely.
1. What is meant by a stratified sample?
A stratified sample assigns participants to categories - so, for example, in this case it was different universities, gender, and the subject being studied. The percentage of each group should represent the same proportion from the population. If the population is 60% female, then the sample should be 60% female. In a stratified sample, these percentages are obtained by randomly selecting participants from the population - that is, the original population was larger than 49,609 students; the students in the study sample were randomly selected.
2. What is one concern you might have about the sample?
The sample is made up only of university students. This is not representative of the greater population, but may be representative of university students. In addition, the study is limited to Taiwanese students. There may be cultural factors that play a role in the findings.
3. What is one concern you might have about the procedure?
As an online questionnaire, it is not clear if the students completed the task alone. This can be controlled by having the students complete the questionnaire under controlled conditions. In addition, many of the questions may lead to optimism bias. If you are asking people how many hours they use the computer, this is not an exact measurement and encouraged cognitive biases.
4. What is one concern you might have about the findings?
Several of the variables are rather general - eg. "loneliness", "learning satisfaction," "depression." It is questionable how they were measured - raising a question of construct validity.
Critical thinking assessment
Read the following summary of the study by Carter et al (2016).
Carter et al (2016) carried out a study to test the effects of computer use in class on academic performance. The study took place at the US Military Academy at West Point in New York.
The sample was made up of 726 students, all enrolled in an introductory economics class.
In the tablet-only group, students did have access to Internet, but they were required to have the tablet flat on their desk at all times.
At the end of the course, students sat a department-wide final exam. The exam had both multiple-choice and short answer questions. In addition, there was an essay. The test was administered online.
For the analysis, the researchers ended up combining the two technology groups. The findings showed that students who did not have access to Internet-enabled devices scored significantly better than the technology groups on the first part of the exam (multiple-choice and short-answer). However, there was no significant difference in the essay scores.
Discuss whether you think that this is a strong study. In writing your response, consider the internal validity, sampling, ecological validity, and construct validity of the study.
Continue to Cognition and tech: Negative effects
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