Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
If it seems as though our increasing reliance on technology has made it more difficult for us to concentrate for long periods of time, there may not be scientific evidence to support that notion, thanks to a new report released this weekend by Microsoft researchers.
Assuming that you’re still reading and not, instead, checking your Facebook, here are the details: In 2000, the attention span of the average human was 12 seconds, but by 2013, it had dropped to just eight seconds, or one second shorter than that of a goldfish. The study was conducted using a combination of surveys and EEG scans, according to Engadget reports published on Sunday.
The website added that much of the attention-span decline is being attributed to the proliferation of mobile devices and the wealth of content available to younger people who compulsively seem to find themselves checking their smartphones and tablets to see what’s new on social media and their favorite websites. Fortunately, they said, the news isn’t all bad.
Not paying attention, or being more selective information consumers?
According to Engadget, while technology may be harming our overall attention span, it also appears to be improving our ability to concentrate in short bursts and to multitask, Microsoft’s report found. Also, it gives people a better sense of what things are worthy of their attention and makes it easier for them to remember those things deemed useful.
The study also reported that 44 percent of Canadians have to really concentrate in order to keep focused on the task at hand, and that 45 percent of them admit they can easily get sidetracked from what they’re doing. Half of those polled said that they automatically reach for their smartphones when nothing else is occupying their attention, it added.
“No matter what environment humans are in (be it the plains of Africa or a crowded street in New York), survival depends on being able to focus on what’s important – generally what’s moving. That skill hasn’t changed, it’s just moved online,” Alyson Gausby, Consumer Insights Lead with Microsoft Canada, wrote in the foreword of the study.
“Today, multi-screening is a given,” she continued, adding that people “turn to their secondary screens to fill in those in-between moments when they might otherwise drop off completely” and are thus “more engaged overall and already primed for immersive experiences… Rest assured,” Gausby concluded, “digital won’t be the cause of our (at least attentional) downfall.”
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