The Cognitive Costs of Mobile Use in Childhood and Adolescence

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Sunday 11:45 am
  In Poster Session: Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning SIG Poster Session

Abstract

This paper aims to quantify students' mobile usage patterns and provide empirical evidence from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The relationship between these patterns and learning-related thinking skills such as inductive reasoning, complex problem solving and working memory is examined across a wide age range (6–17 years old; n=24,910). The results suggest that moderate internet usage positively impacts students' cognitive skills, whereas excessive usage has a detrimental effect. Even minimal technology usage (1–2 hours per week) has an adverse effect on cognitive skills for children aged 6–10. By focusing on the most popular activity (using TikTok) and its relationship with learning-related skills, we confirmed that even minimal usage has a negative impact on learning related cognitive skills.

Author

• Gyongyver Molnar, University of Szeged