A study published in the Journal of Bioelectromagnetics, says that children aged 11 to 14 abusing predictive texting in mobile phones are turning into fast-thinking idiots. Sounds about right. Of course, lead researcher Professor Abramson doesn’t say it exactly that way.
The kids who used their phones a lot were faster on some of the tests, but were less accurate. We suspect that using mobile phones a lot, particularly tools like predictive texts for SMS, is training them to be fast but inaccurate. Their brains are still developing so if there are effects then potentially it could have effects down the line, especially given that the exposure is now almost universal. The use of mobile phones is changing the way children learn and pushing them to become more impulsive in the way they behave.
More impulsive than a 14-year-old? Oh noes.
Abramson—professor at the Monash University, Melbourne, Australia—says that they are not becoming stupid because of the mobile phone radiation frying their brains, but because predictive texting trains their minds into thinking they can get what they want easily: “If you’re used to operating in that environment and entering a couple of letters and getting the word you want, you expect everything to be like that.”
As someone who sometimes goes around life unconsciously clicking “UNDO! UNDO!” and using the pinching gesture to resize things, I understand completely. OK, maybe that’s just an excuse for the pinching, but you get the idea.
There’s a way to easily solve this, however: Make mobile phones only available for 16-year-olds and older. That way, they can start texting right when they get their driver’s licence. Another way is to let kids feed the crocodiles at the zoo, allowing them to hand in the food through the bars. Both ways will make some great LOLz Ytbe vids! [Daily Mail]
Pricie
August 11, 2009 at 1:47 PM
WTF!!! Children between the ages of 11 and 14, shouldn’t even have mobile phones. There is no way they could be responsible enough to use the properly, let alone pay for them. My kids will not be getting phones until they can afford to pay for them them selves.
Report PermalinkDaniel
August 11, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Not even that, pricie. I’ll wait till they’re older and then let them buy it themselves.
I used to hate kids in highschool who used predictive text. The fact that they could be so stupid and just not care, is what really got me. I’m glad a study was done on this and it is starting to become more known among people. I hate texting personally.
Report PermalinkWhen i think of a lot of things to say, i retain that in my memory while i patiently type character for character. This is just impatience at its worst.
Dave Willison
August 11, 2009 at 2:12 PM
Using predictive text has helped me remember the spelling of many longer words simply by getting the key sequence right. Eg ‘Sequence’. When pressing the corresponding number-to-letter key your mind is objectively seeking for the ‘s’ then the ‘e’ then the ‘q’. But if you type ‘e (#3)’ instead of the ‘u’ key the word won’t display correctly indicating that you have the word incorrect. So, you go back one space and try again.
After you (sometimes finally) get the word right you’ll remember the spelling for next time (and not just the number combination, because really, who remembers 73783623 in place of ‘sequence’?
Report PermalinkSwanny
August 11, 2009 at 5:15 PM
I certainly wouldn’t say that predictive test has led me to believe that I can get whatever I want easily. The two great things about it are that it increases your texting speed by a lot, and people who use it are almost not going to be one of those idiots who abbreviate at every damn opportunity, turning their S’s into Z’s and trying to be “gangsta” and “cool”. For the record, it’s not cool, it’s just plain annoying.
So you’ve got kids out there hacking up the precious English language and instead professionals choose to whinge about something like this? Seriously…
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