Memory Improvement

Smartphone Learning: When students should use it, and when to avoid it!

~ Karla Lassonde ~ Leave a comment

Students have immediate access to their work on a smartphone. According to Pew research, 85% of Americans own a smartphone, with that large number increasing to 96% for adults ages 18-29. College students universally own smartphones. Kara Sage in her research on college student use and perception of online work, found that 60% were using their phones for coursework (Sage et al., 2021). Just because a student can complete coursework on their phones, should they?  

With the pandemic leading to permanent changes in remote work and an increase in online learning, it is important to let Cognitive Psychology inform best practices in smartphone learning.  

Using our phone is often about access and availability. It takes time and workspace to open a laptop and nothing is more portable than our phones. The first generation of smartphones, over a decade ago, allowed us to “offload” a ton of information so that it no longer had to be written down or remembered. Early adopters saved time by using their phones to note appointments, store numbers, and find out the location of the nearest coffee shop. Today phones are used most often to watch social media content. Students might agree that their phones suck up rather than save time! Reviews.org surveyed 1,000 participants over 18 and found they checked their phone an average of 344 time a day and would be on track to spend 44 days in 2022 on a phone!

Smartphones of today though can be a necessary part of learning. Here are some best practices and guidance for when to use it and when to avoid it!

First, ask yourself…do I have time to pay attention to the learning task on my phone?

Don’t mistake easy access to a task for the mental energy to focus on it. Our attention is often not at a place where we can focus for several minutes. Just because you can access a quiz on your phone doesn’t mean you are in a quiet, distraction-free place to complete it. Are you able to settle in and listen to a course lecture or read a chapter? Often, we have notifications constantly fighting for our attention on our phone. If a student doesn’t silence these or turn them off all-together it may be difficult, or even impossible, to learn anything.

Second, ask yourself…is the learning task easier for me to complete on my phone?

Researchers like Golebiowski et al. (2020) found that reading for about one hour on a phone made users’ eyes feel strained, dry, and uncomfortable. After a lot of phone reading, users also reported increased tiredness which can occur from the blue light of a phone. If a laptop or book is accessible, why not reach for these to complete a reading assignment? You can save the phone time for less important tasks.

Third, ask yourself…are there any direct benefits for using my phone to learn?

Noting a quick reminder on your phone is helpful; however, researchers have learned that a smartphone may impair your ability to remember. It may not be helpful to take notes while learning on your phone. Neuroscientists found when people wrote down personal calendar notes using either paper, their laptop, or a smartphone, those who used paper remembered the most information.

Paper is helpful because it provides an additional detail for remembering. The action of writing on paper and even the location of the information on paper serves as a memory cue. The more details we have initially stored when we learn, the better the chance of being able to retrieve or remember this information later is. The phone might be faster, but it doesn’t provide the benefit you may get from writing in a favorite notebook and being able to “see” the information later on. Neuroscientists found that study participants who used paper had more brain activity in areas associated with language, imagery, and memory.

Additional research on smartphone learning discovered that a phone can also get in the way of understanding text (Honma et al. 2022). Researchers measuring brain function, discovered that you use more effort in the prefrontal cortex (the part of your brain required for problem-solving and decision-making and other complex thinking) while reading on a phone. Although not completely understood, yet, a phone seems to take away some of our ability to focus on the reading only.

Use this cheat list to decide when to ditch the smartphone when learning:

DON’T USE YOUR PHONE IF:

  • Learning requires a lot of focus
  • You are required to read complex information
  • You are being asked to read for a long time
  • Your eyes are tired
  • You feel like you cannot concentrate

AVOID THESE LEARNING TASKS ON YOUR PHONE:

  • Reading
  • Taking quizzes or exams that require writing
  • Listening to a lecture and taking notes

DO USE YOUR PHONE IF LEARNING:

  • Requires quick access
  • Calls for basic internet searches

COMPLETE THESE LEARNING TASKS ON YOUR PHONE:

  • Answering a quick survey or poll
  • Listening to a short lecture
  • Watching a short video

References

Golebiowski, B. et al. (2020). Smartphone use and effects on tear file, blinking and binocular vision. Curr. Eye Res, 45 (4), 428–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/02713683.2019.1663542.

Honma, M., Masaoka, Y., Iizuka, N. et al. (2022). Reading on a smartphone affects sigh generation, brain activity, and comprehension. Scientific Reports, 12, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05605-0

Pew Research Center. (2021, April 7). Mobile fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/

Sage, K., Jackson, S., Fox, E. et al. (2021). The virtual COVID-19 classroom: surveying outcomes, individual differences, and technology use in college students. Smart Learn, 8 (27). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-021-00174-7

Umejima, K. et al. (2021). Paper notebooks vs. mobile devices: Brian activation differences during memory retrieval. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 19, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.634158

Wheelwright, T. (2019, April 10). 2022 Cell phone usage statistics: How obsessed are we? https://www.reviews.org/mobile/cell-phone-addiction/

Cognition is Everywhere

~ Karla Lassonde ~ Leave a comment

I recently visited my undergraduate alma mater, the University of Mount Union, in Ohio to talk about issues related to learning and memory. It’s always good to go back especially with something to share! Psychological Science allow for its educators and researchers to share what they know with others. This was a great opportunity to talk about memory and aging with seniors who graduated from the University. In the image you can see one of my most engaged audiences in a long time. Sorry undergraduates, but these seniors from Copeland Oaks had several questions about how to preserve their memory and were very lively! I shared knowledge about how memory works and how seniors can make small changes in behavior that result in large gains in remembering.

Similarly, I also shared my LEARN method for educating students about successful learning strategies with several classes of UMU college students. I hope they enjoyed some learning success tips as much as I liked interacting with them.

LOST Memory

~ Karla Lassonde ~ Leave a comment

I had two weeks to spend with my mother and father this summer. The purpose of the trip from Minnesota to Youngstown Ohio, my childhood home, was to clean out and eventually sell our family home. If you have ever gone through an old room, forgotten drawer, or cluttered closet, you know what happens. Seeing a self-portrait, you created in 5th grade art class brings back vivid memories of your ten-year old self. As you sort through books, barbies, and mixed tapes, you are amazed at the smells, songs, and times that you remember clearly. As I was wading in memories, and lots of boxes, I found that one memory was lost forever.

self portrait

My father is in late-stage kidney failure. He is on dialysis and has been in a state of cognitive decline for at least four years.  He is no longer the formidable and brash, “larger than life” persona he once was; rather, he, like many aged loved ones is rather weak and passive. His personal care has been complicated by the fact that for most of the last 15 years, he was estranged from the family. When my mom began caring for him again three years ago he was already in a moderate stage of dementia.

Do you know about the memory test? He took the Mini-mental State Exam (MMSE) as part of a veteran’s clinic medical checkup. I remember my mom telling me over the phone that he got a 13 and was asked questions like, remember the words, toothbrush, glue, rabbit and repeat them a minute later and, draw the face of a clock. Not hard stuff. A score of 13 to 20 suggests moderate dementia. Well, I should know how to interpret Dementia. After all I am a Cognitive Psychologist and I teach a chapter in Human Memory class on aging. For the past 10 years I’ve gone through the facts with my undergraduates. “Dementia is not one disease, but a general term for types of cognitive decline. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s. There is no official diagnosis for dementia and most people recognize memory loss when it is too late to intervene.” I’ve even shown a video of a couple, married 50 years, where one partner no longer knows the other due to Alzheimer’s; most of my students watching it in class easily hold back tears.

Back to the end of Day 1 in Ohio. I kissed and hugged my dad goodbye for the night. He took my arm and said, “you are a real nice lady.” The shock hasn’t worn off yet. How could my father not know me? No, I haven’t had time to ask questions or discuss important life lessons with my father!

close up of pictures
Photo by Leah Kelley on Pexels.com

I am a cognitive psychologist after all so, WHAT SHOULD I DO? As our family makes decisions about the next stage of my dad’s care I wonder, what will he think if he moves to assisted living? How will we be comfortable knowing that he is okay with doing so? How can he speak for himself?

I write this because I want people to know how little we currently know about dementia  and how vulnerable I feel about my own knowledge. I probably understand more about how memory works than 95% of the population. How does the average person, who may not understand memory well at all, cope?

I turned to the Alzheimer’s Association. Here I found a 24/7 helpline 1-800-272-3900 and called. The most knowledgeable, well-trained person comforted me on the line. After a short discussion and about the best listening I’ve experienced in a long time, I have a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old, the man on the other line drafted me an email full of resources SPECIFIC to my father. The Alz.org site is full of insight. “Know the 10 signs” lays out behaviors to watch for and explains how to spot these over normal signs of aging. Take sign number 3, “Confusion with time or place.” A person with dementia may lose track of days, the present moment, and the general passage of time. This is sure different than an age-typical behavior of being confused about what day of the week it is, only to correctly remember a few moments later.

I think the public, my students, and me can benefit from learning the most we can about memory. Dementia, like other horrible diseases, is a great equalizer. THIS PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS DESERVES MUCH ATTENTION. After all, who will you know that loses their memory before losing their life?

 

The Memory Diet?

~ Karla Lassonde ~ Leave a comment

Eggs, coffee, blueberries, dark chocolate, walnuts, avocados, kale….

pexels-photo-236795.jpeg

No, this is not my shopping list. It is a list of foods touted by popular press, to improve memory and cognitive function. Recently I asked students in my Human Memory class to investigate a food believed to be related to memory improvement. The above foods made the list along with several other suggestions (e.g., eat the Mediterranean diet, take supplements like turmeric and vitamin E, and drink red wine). Students were required to provide the source of claim — almost always a popular press site. Then they noted whether the article referenced a scientific study and other features of the source’s validity like whether or not the article was sponsored content.

Finally, the students checked our library databases to see if their was any scientific research to support the claim and make an overall recommendation about adding or not adding the food to a daily diet.

You are hoping that now I bring you great clarity about what to eat for an efficient, better than before memory?……………

memory-boerderij-vilac-3-600x600

What did the students find?

1.) Some of the articles were sponsored. So, we can’t be sure there is not bias in reporting to serve the sponsorship.

2.) Most of the articles did reference a research study. This is great!

3.) When articles did reference research, the results cannot (yet) be applied to every-day eating habits.

What does this mean for us?

Although we might like drinking coffee and eating chocolate, we cannot follow a specific guideline for eating this food in a way that would benefit memory. Tips such as drinking black coffee (avoiding sweeteners and sugary cream) are always solid. However, how much coffee is best for cognition is undefined. For chocolate, research suggests a serving of 1 ounce a day would be beneficial. Again though, consider mistakes people might make as they indulge in their “daily” chocolate. I can see my kid generalizing this to eating his hidden away Halloween candy! There simply is not enough evidence to prescribe a diet with any of these foods to see direct memory and cognitive benefits.

What can you do for your memory?

Suggestions for cognitive improvement walk the line for healthy living. Eating a balanced diet low in saturated fats and sugar, along with plenty of fruits and vegetables is sound advice. Exercise is important but individual differences on best exercises for  you and your body is as varied as food.

I suggest, the LEARN method to improve memory: Listen (pay attention), Elaborate, Associate, Re-tell, and Night (get a full-night of sleep). To find more about this method, see my post on Learning Styles.