EduMusings

It’s back to school time again and I was excited to see that Beloit College’s Mindset list is out. The list is intended to give professors a better idea of where their students are coming from and it’s a fun read; but I can’t help but read it and think it’s a bit of a cynical portrayal of incoming college freshmen. In a USA Today article, one of the creators of the list, Ron Nief says these students associate Watergate with Monica Lewinsky rather than Nixon- a claim that I have trouble believing. I also scanned through some of the comments to the article which were filled with comments like “they think history starts from the day they were born” and “they don’t read books anymore because they’re too busy on Facebook.”

I’m pretty sure old people have been saying these types of things about young people since the beginning of time but one recurring theme that I find interesting is the perception that this generation has a shortened attention span. I don’t know if this claim can be substantiated through actual studies, but several behavioral experiments show that the young and old may not be so different.

Slate’s Emily Yoffe (Intelliworks marketing seems to be avid Slate readers) examined where our desire to Google, Twitter and text comes from. Psychology professor Kent Berridge thinks he’s pinpointed the brain’s reward center which stimulates the opioid system ('opioid' is a derivative of 'opiate'). Humans are naturally curious creatures, constantly seeking things out. Once something is found that stimulates the brain’s pleasure center (like information on Google or updates from your friends), we are temporarily satisfied before resuming our seeking behavior. We are particularly receptive to unpredictable stimuli like emails and texts which can come at any moment.

Like Pavlov’s dog, the beep or vibration of an incoming text or call serves as a reward cue for us. I have a friend with a Samsung phone, which I had about two phones ago. Her text alert is set to the same sound that mine was and my ears still perk up every time I hear it.

My point is that all humans exhibit this seeking behavior. In one study mentioned in the article, humans would neglect hygiene and other commitments in order to get their “fix.” The mind works like this to give humans the desire to do things like forage for food. If the satisfaction of finding food wasn’t fleeting, we wouldn’t eat enough to sustain ourselves. It’s the availability of this technology that emphasizes these characteristics of humans- no group is above this very important evolutionary trait.