Bending minds how technology can change the way we think Dr Martin Westwell

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- withdrawn- break social ties- isolated- depressed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


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


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


PLAYER A

PL

AY

ER



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


PLAYER A

PL

AY

ER



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


PLAYER A

PL

AY

ER



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


PLAYER A

PL

AY

ER



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”




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



bottom-upnoticing

top-downselecting


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



IQ

IQ tests are periodically re-standardised


•practice ?

•schooling ?

•nutrition ?


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



IQ

“Ravens” visuo-spatial


Steven Johnson “Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter”

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/photos/uncategorized/shtvchart1_1.jpg

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/photos/uncategorized/24tvchart3.jpg


the way we think

Huntington’s Disease

Nurture can trump nature

van Dellen, Blakemore, Deacon, York & Hannan 2000, Nature






Standard housing

Enriched housing


Per

cen

tag

e d

isp

layi

ng

pro

fou

nd

sym

pto

ms

Age (days)

Non-Huntington’s



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


..plugged

in

networking indeep

GMbrain


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

http://www.who.int/en/


the way we think

[email protected]

www.futuremind.ox.ac.uk

Documents

Bending minds how technology can change the way we think Dr Martin Westwell