Post on 17-Dec-2015
HOW PEOPLE LEARN PANEL: ATTENTION AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Susan Ravizza
How does attention improve or worsen recall of information?
Attention and Memory
Two kinds of attention
Voluntary – you decide where you are going to place your attention Effortful
Involuntary – your attention is captured by novel or salient information Automatic
Voluntary attention
Selection of important information Ignoring distracting information
Involuntary attention
You just won 5 million dollars!
If drawn to irrelevant information, can hurt memory performance
Involuntary attention
Important information might not get into memory
Might “overwrite” information that is already in memory
Can it help improve memory if captured by important information? Example: Is your memory better for loud
commercials?
My research
Using “tricks” to capture attention to important information can be useful when voluntary attention may be diminished Recall improves for items at the end of a
list when: Presented at a surprising location Presented in an “important” color
Social media & Multi-taskingThe iGeneration
Media multi-tasking
Prevalence of portable iDevices and laptops in classroom
Students are multi-tasking in class often with social media like Facebook, texting, IM, Twitter
845 million monthly active users of Facebook
483 million daily active users of Facebook
Voluntary attention
Students can decide to check facebook or tweet moving their attention away from class material
Effect in classroom
A study of texting in class (Ellis, Daniels, Jauregui, 2010) Undergrads in their first accounting class Lecture followed by unexpected quiz Half of the students asked to text their
professor 3 times Other half, no texting Quiz scores of texters are lower than non-
texters Not dependent on GPA
Involuntary attention
Many social media tools draw our attention automatically Buzzing cell phones Facebook/twitter alert boxes
Can social media be used effectively in classroom?
50 ways to use twitter in the classroom Could help shy students ask questions? Capture their attention back to class by
tweeting material?
May lose control of classroom
More evaluation is needed
Summary
Attention to material is important for committing that information to memory
Involuntary attention that is drawn to relevant information can improve memory
Lots of competing sources of information in classroom
Best to find a way to work with this technology