Cognitive abilities

What is the long-term impact of technological advances on cognitive abilities? We critically examine relevant findings and argue that there is no clear evidence for detrimental lasting effects of digital technology on cognitive abilities. But we also suggest how digital technology may be changing predominant ways of cognition. From Socrates to Spielberg, every generation has worried about the next generation being ruined by the next big thing, be it writing, telephone, radio, television, computers, Internet, or cell phones. Now it is smart devices and artificial intelligence. Dovetailing with this perennial cultural narrative, a popular trend of behavioural research has linked the use of digital technology to poorer memory • Sparrow, B., Liu, J. & Wegner, D. M. Science 333, 776–778 (2011). • Stothart, C., Mitchum, A. & Yehnert, C. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 41, 893–897 (2015). • Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A. & Bos, M. W. J. Assoc. Consum. Res. 2, 140–154 (2017). • Hughes, B. L. & Zaki, J. Trends Cogn. Sci. 19, 62–64 (2015). • Meng, H. et al. J. Behav. Addict. 9, 163–174 (2020). • Ophir, E., Nass, C. & Wagner, A. D. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106, 15583–15587 (2009). • Madore, K. P. et al. Nature 587, 87–91 (2020). • Bjerre-Nielsen, A., Andersen, A., Minor, K. & Lassen, D. D. Psychol. Sci. 31, 1351–1362 (2020). • Thelen, E. & Smith, L. B. A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action. (MIT Press, 1994). • Clark, A. Being There: Putti...

Verywell / Emily Roberts Fluid Intelligence Cattell defined fluid intelligence as "the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships." Fluid intelligence involves being able to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and education. Despite its name, crystallized intelligence is not a form of fluid intelligence that has become "crystallized." Instead, the two facets of general intelligence are considered separate and distinct. Changes in Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence Fluid and crystallized intelligence tend to change throughout life, with certain • Raven's Progressive Matrices Test (RPM) is a non-verbal assessment that asks a person to examine various shapes and pick from a choice of shapes to complete a pattern. • Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities measures cognitive skill and achievement; it's often given to children to assess them for advanced academic courses. • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children measures verbal, reasoning, and memory skills. It is primarily administered to children between the age of six and 16. Improving Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence Past research on intelligence suggested that people really didn't have much control over their intelligence at all. Instead, it was believed that our IQ was largely determined by genetics and that training programs aimed at increasing IQ tended to h...

In psychological health research, a person’s ability to think, otherwise known as their cognitive functions, is a crucial subject of research. The cognitive functions are a variety of different, but related, skills involving learning and problem-solving. Together, these are some of the most important and impressive abilities that the brain is capable of. In other words, if you measure cognitive function early in life before major health problems arise that might impact cognitive function, you can make stronger claims about whether these health problems predict cognitive dysfunction. This work is part of a subfield called The individual cognitive functions themselves are The individual cognitive functions themselves are not perfectly distinct, however. For instance, memory can be subdivided into episodic memory, which assesses your ability to remember details like items in a list or events from a story, and working memory, which is your ability to simultaneously keep information in mind, like when you try to remember a telephone number. Though all cognitive abilities tend to be correlated, that is, if you are good at one thing you tend to be good at all the others, these memory abilities tend to be more strongly correlated to each other than to other cognitive abilities, e.g., speed. We are starting to learn how the individual functions are important for health, as well. For instance, take memory again. All of these abilities tend to decline as you age. If you are healthy, ...

Key points • It's impossible to optimize brain connectivity and maximize growth of new neurons while sitting in front of a screen. • One study found that certain hormones, which are increased during exercise, may help improve memory. • Research finds that the health consequences of feeling lonely can trigger psychological and cognitive decline. The New York Times recently published an article about the "brain fitness" business, "Do Brain Workouts Work? Science Isn’t Sure." I believe the answer is no. Without a variety of other daily habits, these "brain-training" games cannot stave off mental decline or dramatically improve cognitive function. Most of these brain-training games will have some benefits, but it's impossible to optimize brain connectivity and maximize neurogenesis (growth of new neurons) sitting in a chair while playing a video game on a two-dimensional screen. In order to give your brain a full workout, you need to engage both hemispheres of the cerebrum, and of the cerebellum. You can only do this by practicing, exploring, and learning new things in the three dimensions of the real world, not while being sedentary in front of a flat-screen. These digital programs can't really exercise the cerebellum (Latin: "Little Brain") and, therefore, literally only train half your brain. These "brain-training workouts" are the equivalent of only ever doing upper-body workouts, without ever working out your lower body. In 2013, researchers at Dana-Farber and Harvard Med...

Share on Pinterest Igor Alecsander/Getty Images Your mind is central to your identity. The sharpness of your thinking, your ability to communicate and connect with others, and the rich trove of memories you’ve collected over a lifetime all have enormous value. As you get older, you may notice changes in some of your thinking skills, including cognitive decline. Cognitive decline is the gradual loss of thinking abilities such as: • learning • remembering • paying attention • reasoning For This article explores how your cognitive abilities can change later in life. It also provides some practical guidance to help you keep your brain healthy as you age. Specialists generally recognize four stages of cognition as people age: • No cognitive impairment (NCI): You don’t experience any differences in your thinking ability or in the complex skills that make up cognition. • Subjective cognitive decline (SCD): You notice that some of your thinking abilities have begun to decline but not enough to interfere with how you function day to day. • Mild cognitive impairment (MCI): You experience a decline in your ability to reason, remember, use language, make judgments, and perceive the world around you accurately. • Dementia: You have trouble with activities of daily living. These include driving, paying bills, taking care of your living space, and caring for your body and your health. NCI and SCD are typical as you get older. MCI and dementia are cognitive disorders with symptoms that ca...