Tech dependent Brits forget at least five things a day, reveals study

While technological innovation allows storage of and access to greater volumes of data, some have argued 'it is not fundamentally changing how the brain works'

Computer passwords, phone numbers of family and friends and basic spelling are among the things people forget because they rely on gadgets to do it for them, a new survey has found.

Addresses and TV and movie stars are also regularly forgotten as a result of our reliance on technology, the poll of 2,000 adults found.

In total, 13 per cent of adults don’t even know their own phone number.

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“They say elephants never forget, and in the animal kingdom there are certainly some extraordinary memory spans, said Geoffrey Dennis, Chief Executive of animal charity SPANA, which commissioned the survey. “People may be increasingly struggling to remember certain basic information these days. 

"But we know that, for instance, donkeys can remember other donkeys and places they’ve been for up to 25 years, and elephants are able to identify at least 30 of their relatives and remember companions for around 22 years.”

Daniel C Richardson, Professor of Experimental Psychology at UCL said: “Technology has transformed how we store and access knowledge.

“How many of your friend’s and family’s phone numbers do you know from memory?

"If you had asked that question 20 years ago, most people would have been able to reel off a string of numbers.

“Indeed, those of over 40 might still remember the numbers of long departed ex-boyfriends or girlfriends.

“But today, most people rely on devices and the cloud to store, sync and deliver numbers to their fingertips.

"Similarly, if asked ‘who starred in the first Batman movie’, we can now look that up on a device as quickly as searching our own memories.”

The research found that, these days, adults find it more and more difficult to remember things like their bank account details, how to set the time on the clock in the car, or what time a TV programme is on.

Adults also can’t remember how to navigate basic routes as they rely on sat nav to do it for them, and people use the computer so often that many say they are forgetting how to write properly, how to post a letter or how to pronounce something.

Day to day, people are also finding it harder to recall other people’s birthdays, the time or location of events, and some even said they are forgetting the art of conversation.

Professor Richardson added: “It feels like there is a big difference between looking up information in your head, and looking it up on your phone. In one case we ‘know’ the information, and in the other we know how to find out. But some psychologists have argued that, in a sense, the brain doesn’t make such a sharp distinction.

"It’s called the ‘extended mind’ hypothesis, and argues that our brains have always worked to use the world around us as part of our cognitive processing. Think about doing arithmetic in school, and writing down all the steps of long division. Or playing Scrabble, and moving the letters round on your tray rather than juggling them in your head. In all these cases, your brain is leaving information 'in the world', rather than storing it ‘in the head’.

“So although technology has dramatically increased the volume of knowledge that we can store and access, it is not fundamentally changing how the brain works, some have argued.”

The poll also found that six in 10 believed they often forgot things because they have the option of searching online for what they need instead. More than a third agreed they did not need to remember anything, because their technology will do it for them.

SWNS