Internet Largely Influences Our Thinking Ability, Study
Posted on: 10/Dec/2015 4:40:47 PM
A new study claims that the advent of internet is largely affecting the thinking ability of users. They rely more on the web and lesser on their own knowledge. This is because information is instantly available on the web that users can easily access as well.
About a hundred participants were asked a series of general knowledge questions by researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Questions about capitals of countries were among the hundred. The participants indicated whether they are aware of the answer or not. Nearly half of the study involved the participants needing access to the web for answers.
Whenever they responded that they don`t know the answer, they had to look up for the answer. During the other half of the study, they were not given access to the web. The study team found that those who did not have access to the web were more likely by 5 percent to state that they don`t know the answer for the question. In addition, in few contexts, those who have got internet access stated that they feel as though they know lesser as compared to others who did not have access.
We are constantly connected to wide range of internet as internet is ubiquitous these days. People seem less likely to depend on their knowledge when they have got good access and reach to data, said Professor Evan F Risko, from the University of Waterloo. He is the lead of the study.
Interpreting the results of the study, he said that having access to the web tends users to say they do not know the answer even if they know it just because they can affirm it by referring to the web and give out a rewarding answer by confirming the same. Mr Risko said the study results states that usage of internet affects the decisions we make about what we know and do not know.
He added that the result is hoped to have contributed a better understanding on how the ease in accessing large amounts of information has influenced the thinking and behavior of users. The study results are published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.
