RAB Source Entry 3 – Nael Ottman

RQ: How does technology affect people’s attention span?

Part 1: MLA Citation

– YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AqjhazrmOY. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Part 2: Summary

In the YouTube video “Does your kid have the attention span of a goldfish?” Emma Louise Louth explains that technology influences people’s attention spans. Louth gives a real-life example of when she was a research intern for a study on whether kindergarteners learn ABCs better with a physical book or an e-book. The kids immediately tried to remove parental control and wanted to play Angry Birds. Secondly, Louth gives us data on how long adults and baby boomers use their phones. Adults spend around 10 hours a day and baby boomers spend 5 hours a day. Therefore shows that their attention span is low and they can’t focus on their tasks. Lastly, Louth tells us that “we want to feel productive” meaning trying to multi-task with different screens. But it isn’t effective because it takes up to 40% productivity a day. This shows that with more technology in our lives, our attention span gets lower. “If we want to keep moving forward we need to be thinking of ways to build a bridge between the world that children and teens are growing up in and the world they will work in.”

Part 3: Rhetorical analysis

This is an educational presentation. Her tone in this TED talk is informative. Louth used ethos when she mentioned her career as a neuroscientist. The target audience is phone users. The purpose of the video is to show the negative effects technology has on people. The source is Tedx Talk. It’s a reliable source because TED employs a science curator as well as fact-checkers and topic-specific advisors. Before a speaker is invited to the TED stage, they strive to ensure that their work has been peer-reviewed and that they are well regarded by other scientists. Louth is also credible because she’s a neuroscientist with 9 years of hands-on experience in studying brain and cognitive development. She earned her PhD from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and has conducted research at Copenhagen University and Aarhus University. This information is current. It was published on December 6, 2022.

Part 4: Notable quotes

“Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, some say 15 minutes, others just eight seconds, that’s shorter than a goldfish”. (2:24)

“Well our brain craves stimulation and they crave entertainment and everything in our environment is constantly fighting for your attention”. (4:36)

“If you imagine the brain while asking participants to quickly switch between tasks you’ll see that brains from younger people, teenagers and young adults will have stronger signals in areas important for task switching like the prefrontal cortex as well they will have a faster reaction time for the switch.” (8:00)