Bending minds how technology can change the way we think Dr Martin Westwell
Mar 28, 2015
Bending mindshow technology can change
the way we think
Dr Martin Westwell
What is a mind?
• You are born with almost all your 100 billion neurons
• The growth of connections between cells accounts for the growth of the brain after birth (150 trillion)
• These connections reflect experience
100 billion = 100,000,000,000 150 trillion = 150,000,000,000,000
Newborn 3 months 15 months 24 months
physical connections
conceptual connections
Long termpotentiation
repetition
“emotion”
information
knowledge
Impact of information technology
information knowledge
• downloading essays from the internet "could not be controlled"
• "The availability of the internet is a powerful aid to learning but carries a new generation of risks of plagiarism."
QCA chief executive, Ken Boston
(November 2005)
information knowledge
Online society
# unique members
> 100 million
> 30 million
> 25 millionsince July 2005
News Corporation$850 million
Socialisation rather than information has emerged as the primary use of the internet
secondlife.com
Online society
1.5 M 22 Nov 2006 5.8 M 24 Apr 2007 7.0 M 4 June 2007
secondlife.reuters.com
- more social- reinforce social links- extrovert- “happy”
- withdrawn- break social ties- isolated- depressed
Online society
Technology
It’s not the technology that changes the way you think- it’s about you and what you do with it
access to extremes of behaviour
Always on!
Institute for Innovation & Information Productivity
18-21 age group
Interruption
YesNo
Estimated Marginal Means
75
70
65
60
55
50
35-39 age group
Interruption
YesNo
45
40
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
X
X
X
on
th
e in
tern
et
on
th
e p
ho
ne
rea
din
g
co
mp
ute
rg
am
es
do
ing
ho
me
wo
rk
go
ing
ou
t
wit
h f
amily
wa
tch
ing
TV
see
ing
fri
en
ds
data from http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/children-go-online/
non-useroccasional user
weekly userdaily user
33.236.238.240.6
Num
ber
of h
ours
per
wee
khours/week
Changing young minds
•48 players (undergraduates)•Group A and Group B•$100 for best A and $100 for best B•Pairs randomly chosen to play violent or non-violent game
A B
Sheese & Graziano 2005, Psychological Science
Sheese & Graziano 2005, Psychological Science
Changing young minds
A B
COOPERATE(TRUST)
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
COOPERATE(TRUST)
Win x1.5Win x1.5
Win x2Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
Lose x0.5Win x2
Lose x0.5Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Prisoner’s dilemma
PLAYER A
PL
AY
ER
BChanging young minds
Sheese & Graziano 2005, Psychological Science
A B
COOPERATE(TRUST)
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
COOPERATE(TRUST)
Win x1.5Win x1.5
Win x2Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
Lose x0.5Win x2
Lose x0.5Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Prisoner’s dilemma
PLAYER A
PL
AY
ER
BChanging young minds
Sheese & Graziano 2005, Psychological Science
A B
COOPERATE(TRUST)
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
COOPERATE(TRUST)
Win x1.5Win x1.5
Win x2Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
Lose x0.5Win x2
Lose x0.5Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Prisoner’s dilemma
PLAYER A
PL
AY
ER
BChanging young minds
Sheese & Graziano 2005, Psychological Science
A B
COOPERATE(TRUST)
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
COOPERATE(TRUST)
Win x1.5Win x1.5
Win x2Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
Lose x0.5Win x2
Lose x0.5Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Prisoner’s dilemma
PLAYER A
PL
AY
ER
BChanging young minds
Sheese & Graziano 2005, Psychological Science
A B
COOPERATE(TRUST)
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
COOPERATE(TRUST)
Win x1.5Win x1.5
Win x2Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
EXPLOIT(TRUST)
Lose x0.5Win x2
Lose x0.5Lose x0.5
Draw x1Draw x1
WITHDRAW(DISTRUST)
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Draw x1Draw x1
Prisoner’s dilemma
PLAYER A
PL
AY
ER
BChanging young minds
Sheese & Graziano 2005, Psychological Science
Developing skills
Rosse et al 2007, Archives of Surgery
• Hybrid laparoscopy training system (video & real)21 residents, 12 attending, 15 men, 18 women
• Past game play (>3hr/week)37% fewer errors (P<0.02) 27% faster (P<0.03)
• High scoring gamers (top tertile)47% fewer errors (P<0.001) 39% faster (P<0.001)
• Relative weight analysis0.3% years of training 2% sex 2% cases performed
10% video game experience 31% video game skill
Attention
• compare Medal of Honor to Tetris
• Games which demand high capacity for attention, develop attentional capacity (!)
Attention
Green & Bavelier 2003, Nature
visual attentiondistracted & confused
Review: Lavie 2005, TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences
bottom-upnoticing
top-downselecting
perceptual load“how much”
not “how hard”
visual attentiondistracted & confused
Review: Lavie 2005, TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences
perceptual load“how much”
not “how hard”goal relevant
stimuli
“spare”capacity
task withincreasedperceptual
load
atte
nti
on
al c
apac
ity
incr
ease
d a
tten
tio
nal
cap
acit
y
visual attentiondistracted & confused
Review: Lavie 2005, TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences
bottom-upnoticing
top-downselecting
perceptual load“how much”
not “how hard”
executive control prioritising stimuli
during task
“verysuperior”
“intellectuallydeficient”
55
IQ score
70 85 100 115 130 145 160
Changing generations: The Flynn effect
After Flynn 1984, 1987 Psychological Bulletin & Neisser 1997 American Scientist
1932 1997
2.25% 2.25%
25%
120
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990100
105
110
115
120
125
year data were collected
IQ s
core
s re
lati
ve t
o r
efer
ence
Changing generations: The Flynn effect
After Flynn 1984, 1987 Psychological Bulletin & Neisser 1997 American Scientist
IQ
IQ tests are periodically re-standardised
Changing generations: The Flynn effect
•practice ?
•schooling ?
•nutrition ?
Changing generations: The Flynn effect
sun is to day as
moon is to ______
After Raven 1976 Standard Progressive Matrices & 2002 News Scientist
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990100
105
110
115
120
125
year data were collected
IQ s
core
s re
lati
ve t
o r
efer
ence
Changing generations: The Flynn effect
After Flynn 1984, 1987 Psychological Bulletin & Neisser 1997 American Scientist
IQ
“Ravens” visuo-spatial
Changing generations: The Flynn effect
Steven Johnson “Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter”
Bending mindshow technology can change
the way we think
Huntington’s Disease
Nurture can trump nature
van Dellen, Blakemore, Deacon, York & Hannan 2000, Nature
Huntington’s Disease
Nurture can trump nature
van Dellen, Blakemore, Deacon, York & Hannan 2000, Nature
Huntington’s Disease
Nurture can trump nature
Standard housing
Enriched housing
van Dellen, Blakemore, Deacon, York & Hannan 2000, Nature
Per
cen
tag
e d
isp
layi
ng
pro
fou
nd
sym
pto
ms
Age (days)
Non-Huntington’s
Huntington’s Disease
Nurture can trump nature
Isolated Enriched
Enriched environment?
• multi-sensory
• relevant
• emotional content
• interpersonal interaction - interdependent learning - (parental engagement)
• exercise
• nutrition / hydration
• blue light?
VAK learning styles
Brain Gym
Water makes you smart
WARNING! NEUROMYTHS!
..plugged
in
networking indeep
GMbrain
magnetic personality
Communication
• 3,900 people in UK
• 80,000 people worldwide
cochlear implants
Communication
Communication
Communication
Communication
..plugged
in
networking indeep
GMbrain
magnetic personality
..plugged
in
networking indeep
GMbrain
magnetic personality
Neurobiofeedback
Neurobiofeedback
Scientific American Mind
Neuro bio-feedback
Thinking changes
• The world around us can change the way we think
• Technology can change the way we think
internet - availabililty of information- internet society
knowledge economy - conversion to knowledge- new productivity ??
augmented self - neurofeedback / devices- cognition enhancing drugs
Attention!
Hazards of technology
SIMONSMOVIE
Direct Line “Mobile Phone Report” 2002 (Transport Research Laboratory)*UK legal limit: 80mg/100ml
*
Risk vs. benefit of technology
World’s first road traffic death 1896:coroner was reported to have said “this must never happen again”.
• 1.2 million people killed (2003) • up to 50 million people injured (2003)• predicted 65% increase over next 20 years