It has almost become second nature to check your cell phone every ten minutes for a new alert, or to check your computer for new messages every hour or so. Many people do not realize that some psychologists and British researchers have done studies that have led them to believe that checking electronic messaging systems frequently can knock almost ten points off of your IQ.
Though this trend, referred to as “infomania,” is more common among working adults, it certainly is finding its way through the school system into the high school body. When the brain should be concentrating on the work that is at task, many find themselves distracted by their electronic devices. Employees and students are not focused on the job they are supposed to be completing, but their minds are fixed on whatever device they are working with.
According to The Coleman Center, out of 1,100 adults interviewed in a clinical trial, 52% admitted to immediately replying to text messages, and 21% also did so during meetings. Researchers believe that the effects of “infomania” are twice as harmful as smoking marijuana. The effects are about equivalent to a sleepless night, leaving a person “tired and lethargic” according to CNN.
Continuously texting or e-mailing can not only have negative effects on your brain, but can also build barriers between employees, as well as student-teacher relationships. Research has shown that the brain does not function as efficiently when it is focusing on more then one issue at a time. More work is being done to back up this theory, in an attempt to make people put down their phones and e-mail, and focus on their jobs and responsibilities.
By Pallavi Bamzai, Echo staff Writer
Photo by Lucas Giolas, Echo photo editor
