June 19

How is American culture changing?
I think peoples' values are definitely changing. It seems that people value connections they make online more than connections that are made face to face. I will be honest; I find it much easier to simply email or text someone than to call them on the phone or go visit them. I think with all of the changes in technology, we are becoming such a fast-paced world. We are trying to do too much with too little time.

What do we value?

What do we need to safeguard and what can be lost?
I found it very interesting that Digital Nation mentioned that technology causes memory loss. Before there was printed text, poets had poems memorized. When text was invented, there wasn't a need to memorize the poems, so their memory capacities weakened. Is the same thing happening because of digital technology? Do we no longer need to memorize facts because it is just as easy to look them up online?

I was impressed with South Korea's program to teach children about online safety. I think this is an important aspect of technology that is not being taught well at an early age in America.

June 17

How does technology impact cognition?
Everything affects cognition. We are making patterns and connections any time we are paying attention to something.  Technology does seem to increase the need for "multitasking."  We tend to engross ourselves in multiple forms of technology quite consistently.  Are we really doing a good job at any of those tasks if we are splitting up our time so much? If we are switching back and forth too often, are we making proper connections and retaining important information?

How does technology impact memory?
Technology can be a pretty positive component to memory. Technology presents things in a visually exciting format. Technology provides multiple forms of information. This increases the likelihood that we will see information in a form that coordinates with our individual form of retention.  We have pictures to help with visual cues, sounds to help with auditory cues, and the ability to create amazing things to help us learn and retain by working hands on.

How does technology interact with the brain's reward centers?
Technology provides instantaneous feedback which is what we all want. We want it now! We want to be told how great and knowledgeable we are. Computer games, if created properly, and very effective at gaining our attention and holding our attention for long periods of time because we are rewarded on a regular basis. We level up, we earn badges, we earn more powers or weapons. What a rush! No wonder technology is so addictive...

How does technology impact cognitive development?
It was mentioned by someone in our discussion yesterday that kids who are introduced to technology before the age of 2 will have some developmental issues. That is frightening. I must have done a lot of damage to my own kids. I remember many times that I turned on the TV for my own child to entertain them while I made dinner or did the dishes. Oops! I can definitely see how too much of the same activity does not give our brain enough "exercise." It is important to have a lot of variety in our technology just as we should have variety in our media.

How do modern children and adolescents differ from their predecessors?
We definitely live in a world today where kids want instant gratification. They want to be entertained. They don't want to find something to entertain them; they just want it to happen without effort. My kids are always "bored"; however, I don't see them trying very hard to entertain themselves. When I was growing up, we were so good at making up games of our own, role playing, being active. We entertained ourselves. My kids are definitely lacking in that department. At school, kids do not want to have to think about a solution, they want to be given the answer if they don't know it immediately.

June 12

How much media do children and teens consume each day?
According to the "Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds," children are consuming an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day. That is unbelievable to me! That means that kids are getting home from school, accessing media immediately, and continue to use some sort of entertainment media until nearly 11 pm.  Where is the time for homework?

How does the type of media consumed impact cognition?
If the media is engaging, cognition can be improved. Engaging would require some unique thought process or activity. Some good types of media would be reading a book or playing an active video game (wii Fit, xBox Kinnect, etc.). If an activity is repeated too many times, it becomes a reflex to us and is no longer improving cognition. It is important to have variance with those activities.  It is also important that we don't try to "multitask" too often. If we spend too much time switching between tasks, do we really become masters of (create neural connections to) any of them?

June 10

How does cognition develop over the lifespan?
Cognition begins as a baby in the womb. Babies can hear their mother's voice, music, and other sounds. This is when we first start to form patterns for recognition.

We have a sort of "tunnel vision" throughout our lives.  In "Now You See It," Cathy N. Davidson calls it "Attention Blindness." What this means is that we are trained to pay attention to certain things and to ignore (we are oblivious) to everything else unless our attention is drawn to it.

When we are babies, the adults in our lives choose what we should pay attention to.  They make sounds, shake things in front of our faces, etc. to gain our attention.  When we are young children, we continue to learn in much the same way.  Our brain will form patterns based on voice inflections, volume, smells, colors, etc..

We train our brain to pay attention to certain things. We can also un-train our brains to pay attention to new things and form new patterns.  When we are in school, our teachers choose what they want us to pay attention to; they provide us with our educational patterns.

What role does the environment play on cognition?
Our environment is what we use to form cognitive patterns (sights, sounds, smells, colors, volumes, etc).  Cathy N. Davidson suggests that we learn fear from the change in the tone of our mother's (or anyone else's) voice. We learn to like the music that we are first introduced to until we form a new pattern. Because we are observers when we are babies, our environment plays a huge role in our cognitive development.

June 3-5

How do we think?
We think by using our brain cells which are called neurons. Our neurons send electrical signals to other neurons. The electrical signals are converted to a chemical within your brain. The chemical it creates is called a neurotransmitter. Different neurotransmitters are created for communication/transmission with different neurons.

How do we learn?
Every experience we have is recorded in the brain. When an experience is recorded in the brain, a connection is made between neurons.

How do we remember?
If we have the same experience over and over again, our neurons become stronger or are "trained." If you don't consistently remind your neurons, your neurons start to forget the connection that it had made. In order to remember properly, you had to have paid attention when the memory was being created.