Brain on My Mind

  

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My mind has been filled with thoughts about the brain even more than usual in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. On Saturday I spent time with an economist friend who has recently been asked to consult on the emerging field of neuro-economics. He agreed with me that education is a field ripe for this kind of approach to influencing behavior; sadly, he also didn't know anyone investigating this perspective. On Sunday I spoke at the Learning and the Brain conference at MIT where I focused on the intersection of technology and cognitive research. Then the following evening I participated in an idea-generating dinner among faculty and students from the TIE and MBE programs at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Two big ideas in particular emerged for me over those few days.

First, we still have much to learn not just about the effects of technology on cognitive development, but also about what questions to ask. I heard a lot of assumptions about how the brains of the digital generation are wired differently, but I didn't see a lot of evidence of that different wiring. Do today's youth really have different brains? At what age did a child have to start using technology to get a different brain? What technology are we talking about anyway? Using a mouse? Hypertext? Playing video games? Watching TV? Talking on the phone? There have always been generational differences. What's different about this one? How do we separate the usual generational cycle from anything unique here? Good research requires specific questions that define and isolate variables. We have exciting and interesting work still to do here.

Second, we need to move beyond the either/or orientation that often accompanies hyperbolic talk about technology and cognitive development. In the good old days, we read books. Today's generation reads short passages on the web or even shorter pieces on Twitter. Back in the day we focused on tasks one at a time; today's hypertext, always-on, multi-tasked world leads to constant distraction. When I was a kid we played with other kids outside. Now children become avatars interacting with other imagined identities in giant virtual worlds. On and on it goes.

However, technology doesn't typically displace what we used to do. Children still read books, focus to the point of ignoring parental requests, and talk to one another in person. But they do these other things too. If we look at the technology as additive, we can start to ask questions about when and under what circumstances it might actually amplify what we already do (communicate) and when it might compete (watching TV instead of running around). Sometimes the amplification can be good, allowing us, for instance, to increase contact with family members. Sometimes it can be bad, such as allowing hate messages to spread more readily. It's a nuanced portrait that merits thoughtful examination. The better we understand it, the better we will be able to use it in constructive ways. That's part of what we're up to.