Franky Nassivera
In a time, where scientists are able to create both usable limbs and organs with the use of a 3d printer; it comes as no surprise that people would also turn to technology to improve their mental cognition as well. Companies like Lumosity, CogniFit, and CogMed are constantly advertising for their products ability to boost a person’s intelligence. This however may not be the case. In one of Lumosity’s most recent advertising campaigns, it states that “No matter why you want a better brain, lumosity.com can help. It’s like a personal trainer for your brain. Improving your performance with the science of neuroplasticity, but in a way that just feels like games. Start training with lumosity.com right now, and discover what your brain can do.” (4) Statements like this make Lumosity seem almost like a miracle drug. This thought is enhanced when before this statement, actors are stating why they would want to use the product. With quotes like “I did it to be quicker.”, “To stay sharp.”, and “To remember people’s names.” (4) it allows the viewer to associate those results with Lumosity without actually seeing any evidence. With over 50 million members and over 1.1 billion games played, Lumosity has created an empire over the “brain game” industry: “growing its user base about 200% year-over-year from 80,000 members in October 2007.” (5) With all of these new users, there should be plenty of information to support the claim that these games improve
Children use a lot of technology. They use technology whether they are using social media, using a learning program, or reading an electronic book. The truth is, that there are more positives than negatives when children use technology. There is fear that if children use too much technology they will not have proper development especially cognitively. This paper will show how technology can benefit a child’s cognitive development.
The unattributed article “You Can Grow Your Intelligence,” published in Health and Science magazine, reports that new research shows scientist have discovered that a brain can get stronger and people get smarter if they learn new things and practice. The brain is compared to a muscle in that if it is exercised, it will get
Understanding and action go together. We think more fluidly when an action is associated with a concept. Video games contain, joined together, both action and thought. This leads to a much better internalization and understanding of the game's subject matter. In a study done in Germany in 2008, participants were given a simple task to learn, such as Juggling. After about 12 weeks, these people showed a marked increase in the amount of grey matter in their brains. Further examination of these results revealed that it was, in fact, the act of learning coupled with the action that caused this increase, not simply the performance of the action itself. This suggests that games not only are excellent ways of teaching, they can have lasting beneficial effects on the health of the brain itself.
Our lives have become busier and therefore there is less time for complex gaming. Casual game use is on the rise as such games are simple and can be played quickly (“The Rise and Rise of Casual Gaming,” 2008). Jesse Schell (2010) observes games are becoming an extension of our real life, for example, fitness trackers and Wii fit, ‘brain exercising’ apps to ward off dementia, good driver apps that are provided by car insurance companies, point systems for shopping rewards and weight watchers. We can even compete with others in these games using leader boards. In the future there may be reward systems for brushing your teeth or using public transport (Schell,
This week’s readings were about drug addiction and a brain training scam. The article about Lumosity –a brain training program – was interesting because there are numerous programs and products out there that claim to improve brain performance. It reminded me of “brain clinics” in Roswell, where I live, and their extraordinary claims to cure people of ADHD and such. Even though the FTC filed a complaint against Lumosity, it is unfortunate that people take advantage of consumers who have basic or low health literacy skills, or who are desperate for a solution. Although Lumosity already has a negative reputation with the FTC, they probably have found other ways to lure people into paying for their brain training services. I was wondering if there
Humans have been seeking many different ways to improve their cognitive ability for thousands of years. For example, education has been used in order to learn and improve on cognitive ability and to improve our understanding of the world (Bostrom and Sandberg, 2009). With the advance of technology, resources and medicine, humans have managed to develop cognitive enhancing drugs that improve our cognitive ability by improving the attention, motivation and working memory.
BrainMaster’s target audience are young children and older adults. One advantage of this type of brain training is that it is self-regualted. It can be conducted anywhere with an internet connection. This is convenient for older people who may find it difficult to attend frequent face to face sessions. This computerised brain training can be completed in the privacy of their own home, at a time that is convenient to them (Rabipour & Raz, 2012, p.
Regretting the past, envisioning a brighter future, and questioning the present are all thoughts that wander aimlessly in a mind. Majid Fotuhi’s Boost Your Brain proves that each and every person has the ability to improve their life by improving their brain. Dr. Fotuhi brings his twelve-week brain fitness program to readers; analyzing, distilling, and translating into plain English the ground-breaking discoveries that allows one’s brain to become years, or decades, younger, and truly tap into the potential of a complex organ of the human body. Within Boost Your Brain, Dr. Fotuhi enlightens and coaxes the audience with a professional tone to complete his program by incorporating real-life scenarios along with proven facts to meet the needs
In the world today, the predominant force in teen’s lives is the use of their mobile devices, computers, and other forms of electronics. As the use of technology increases, concerns are growing about the amount of screen time teens should be exposed to, and if the use of technology can affect a teen’s brain development. The American Academy of Pediatrics, or the AAP, is considering raising the two hour screen time limit to four hours because of the growing use of electronics in our day and age. However, because teens’ brains develop differently than adults, parts of their brains are not mature enough. Some parts, such as the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for thinking ahead and sizing up risk and reward, are not fully developed. Therefore, the use of technology can greatly impact a growing teen’s brain, and influence from mobile devices or electronics can have both a positive or negative effect on their brain. As a result, some people believe that the screen time limit shouldn’t be raised, however others believe the AAP should raise its standards. In the texts, “What’s Going on In Your Brain?” by Linda Bernstein, “Growing Up Digital” by Matt Richtel; “Attached to Technology and Paying the Price” by Matt Richtel, “AAP Policy Statement: ‘Children, Adolescents, and the Media’”, it has been delineated that the use of technology can have a negative influence on growing teens. Therefore, the AAP should not raise its recommended daily entertainment screen time from
Just as the steam engine and efficient coal production kicked off the Industrial Revolution, cognitive enhancements will transform the modern era.
There is presently much controversy regarding the concept of intelligence and the way that it influences individuals. In order to assist the masses in getting a better understanding of intelligence, the human brain, and the relationship between them, society has come up with a series of metaphors. Present-day technology has made it possible for individuals to interact with tools that work similarly to the human brain, thus making people think that the brain actually works as a very advanced computer that has a certain amount of storage space, a particular processing speed, and that is overall more or less capable of performing certain tasks.
Everyday humans pass hundreds possibly even thousands of their acquaintances staring into the brightly lit screens of iPhones and Androids. What could they possibly be doing that makes them so oblivious to the bustling world around them? Technology is to blame. iPhones, Androids, Blackberries, and the occasional flip phone are amongst the technology taking over the everyday lives of humans. It's the future, lifeless objects taking the lives of humans.
Certainly, different styles of video games may produce different results. It is important for us to understand the different benefits from the various styles of games. Because students play a wide variety of games, they may have a repertoire of schemas with different information (Pillay 2002).
In recent years brain training games have become a topic of interest among both researchers and common people alike. Researchers are interested in the healing properties of brain training while normal people are looking to brain training as a way to improve their performance and get a leg up on the competition in school, work, and life. Up until recently, it was believed that the brain was unchangeable in terms of memory capacity. Researchers were well aware of the fact that the brain can change and form new connections when brain damage occurs. However, the idea that humans can train their brains to be more efficient and stronger seemed like a far-fetched cry from reality up until the late 1990’s (Weicker, Villringer & Thöne-Otto, 2016). As time went on and more research was conducted in the field of brain training, it became clear that brain training is not an exact science but, it does have real cognitive benefits.
There is a widely held belief that commercially available computerized brain-training programs improve cognitive function. 2 Although society has accepted this correlation of “brain games” and increased cognitive ability, it has yet to be proven.1 Regardless of this, there has been a recent spawn of enterprises dedicated to creating these games. Of these enterprises, the most well-known companies are Lumosity and Brain Age.1 These companies even argue that brain training is as good as physical training.4 Websites like