What parents need to know
Focus is required to create long-term memories. Flitting between apps, messages, and notifications disrupts how our impressions turn into memories. Constant digital stimulation prevents learning from sticking.
Full Citation
Hansen, A. (2022). The Attention Fix: How to Focus in a World That Wants to Distract You. London: Virgin Books. (Page 60)
Publication Type
Book by leading psychiatrist synthesizing neuroscience research on attention, memory, and digital distraction
What They Studied
Dr Hansen examined the neuroscience of memory formation, specifically how attention and focus enable the brain to convert short-term impressions into long-term memories. He analyzed research on what happens to memory consolidation when attention is constantly interrupted by digital notifications, app switching, and multitasking.
Key Findings
- “Focus is required to create long-term memories”
- “Bombarding the brain with an endless stream of stimuli as we flit between Instagram, text messages, tweets, emails, news flashes and Facebook disrupts the process by which our impressions are turned into memories”
- Memory consolidation requires sustained attention and mental processing time
- Each time we switch tasks or respond to a notification, we interrupt the memory formation process
- Digital devices create an environment of constant interruption that is antithetical to learning
- What students experience as “studying” on devices – switching between homework and social media – prevents the deep processing required for lasting learning
- The brain needs consolidation time to move information from working memory into long-term storage
- Constant digital stimulation means that while students may be exposed to information, they’re not forming stable memories of it
- This explains why students can spend hours “studying” on devices yet retain little information
- For effective learning, periods of focused attention without digital distraction are essential
Read the book
Hansen, A. (2022). The Attention Fix: How to Focus in a World That Wants to Distract You. Available through major booksellers.
