Tracy Markle, MA, LPC (Founder & Director, Digital Media Treatment & Education Center, Collegiate Coaching Services) discusses the prevalence of and negative effects of information overload on teens via screen-based devices at the #AskTheExperts webinar “Driven to Distraction: Media Use, Attention, and Cognition” on April 10, 2024.
Read the Video Transcript
[Dr. Tracy Markle]: So what is information overload? Information overload is the excessive input of information, which is more than the human brain can analyze, process, think deeply about, and comprehend and this occurs on an immersive screen like a smartphone and a computer. If these devices are always accessible, teens quite literally have 24/7 access for searching, posting, gaming, checking, binging, shopping, viewing, and texting, and receiving notifications. One study found that the typical adolescent gets 237 notifications a day, or roughly 15 every waking hour. This overstimulation causes mental fatigue and scrambled thinking.
View the full webinar
Driven to Distraction: Media Use, Attention and Cognition
How do hours spent daily on digital media affect children’s attention spans, multitasking skills, and cognitive functions? How are digital platforms affecting how youth interact with the real world?
Nicholas Carr
Author, Journalist
Susanne Baumgartner, PhD
Associate Professor, Amsterdam School of Communication Research
Taína Coleman, MA, MEd
Educational Specialist, Learning and Development Center, Child Mind Institute
Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, PhD
Associate Professor, Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Tracy Markle, MA, LPC
Founder & Director, Digital Media Treatment & Education Center, Collegiate Coaching Services
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