On Compensation of the Impact of the Development of Information and Communication Technologies on Cognitive Functions

Abstract

At present, serious technological changes are taking place in the world and especially rapidly in the field of information and communication technologies. These changes have a significant impact on all aspects of people's lives and activities. The subject of this article is the influence of the development of information and communication technologies on human cognitive functions. The effects of the Internet, smartphones, social networks, calculators, working with the keyboard, and reducing the volume of non-electronic reading are considered in detail. Particular attention is paid to the impairment of verbal and logical memory, the emergence of "digital dementia", the deterioration of analytical and logical thinking, the emergence of clip thinking, a decrease in communication abilities and the complication of current decision-making. A number of possible approaches are proposed as means to compensate for the decrease in the considered cognitive functions caused by the development of information and communication technologies It is shown that the necessary correction can be carried out by training weakening functions with the help of special cognitive gymnastics: suitable intellectual games, certain exercises. The system of compensating classes, including educational games and special exercises, can be combined into an academic discipline under the conditional name "intellectual culture" (by analogy with physical culture). The need to ensure a sufficiently high level of basic knowledge was also noted. In addition, it is proposed to adjust the education system to neutralize the observed negative trends.