Nowadays, one can hardly find a person who has never used or at least heard of various gadgets such as smartphones, laptops, electronic books, and smartwatches. The relations between the modern technologies and the cognitive development of people are reversible. On the one hand, the appearance of new gadgets and apps is the result of the scientific progress and demonstrates the intellectual level of the modern society. On the other hand, the use of the modern technologies also impacts cognitive functions of the human brain. The regular use of the various devices positively influences the cognitive development of a person, especially such its areas as information processing, memory, and conceptual thinking, by challenging current conceptions and encouraging collaborative interactions.
To start with, the regular use of various apps and gadgets improves the mechanisms of information processing in a human brain. In the era of the Internet that can be accessed from almost any part of the world, the amount of information that people receive every day has multiplied in comparison to the times when computers and different gadgets either did not exist or were not accessible for most people. For this reason, it is essential for a person to be able not only to perceive this information but also to differentiate which facts and data are valid and important and which can be ignored. It results in the formation of new data processing mechanisms that allow to filter all the stream of the data and to single out the most important its constituents. For instance, when looking up for a particular fact or information on the Internet, people usually use keywords and choose which websites they can rely on and which one cannot be trusted.
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Also, modern technologies trigger memory development. Many people claim that modern apps have made people lazy and forgetful since there is no need to remember such things and mobile numbers, meeting times, and even some professional terms – all these things can be easily remembered by a smartphone. Nevertheless, in such a way, they unload human brain from unnecessary details leaving more resources and space for long-term memories and the functioning of the working memory. Actually, in the modern world, memory is viewed as a continuous process rather than a storage of various facts, and the use of modern technologies allow people to optimize this process.
Moreover, the development of modern technologies serves as a basis for the appearance of new concepts. Such issues as urban noise, Internet-addiction, global classroom did not exist just a few decades ago, and now they are known to people all over the world. To comprehend their mechanisms and peculiarities, modern people have to switch from the concrete to conceptual thinking and be ready to compare their visions with those accepted by the others. For instance, about two centuries ago, the concepts of global warming and environmental danger were not discussed on the international level since people did not have a chance to cooperate and exchange information quickly. All the environmental problems such as lack of water and air pollution were attempted to be solved at the local level that, of course, did not prove to be effective. Now, with the help of modern technologies, scientists all over the world can collaborate on the global level to find the solutions to the urgent problems of the modern world.
All in all, modern technologies do not only make people`s lives easier, but change the way people think. They trigger the appearance of new mechanisms of the information processing, improve the functioning of the working memory, and serve as a basis for construction of new concepts that reflect the modern reality. All these factors allow presuming that under the influence of modern technologies, people have reached a new stage of cognitive development.
