Yuhaen - Week 15: Memory Lapse
Have you ever picked up your phone to do something, but ended up opening Instagram reels, scrolled for a couple of minutes, and eventually forgot what you originally opened your phone to do? (Don’t worry, you’re not alone.) When we do this, we experience a psychological phenomenon called “prospective memory lapse,” where we briefly forget the intentions behind doing something (like opening our phones). Over time, these slip-ups can accumulate and negatively affect one’s productivity, memory, and ability to focus on multiple tasks.
As short-form content dominates the online space, these memory lapses are becoming more common. Issues such as degrading attention spans and memory loss plague the younger generation. These problems are not confined to our generation alone: I have seen my dad scrolling on YouTube shorts on a separate monitor during work! YouTube and TikTok’s tailored algorithm ensures that people of all ages receive content that they would find stimulating, which is a reason why it is so dangerous. Our minds are being trained to constantly seek stimulation, making it increasingly difficult to focus on tasks and recall what we were doing moments ago.
The world will only get more distracting, which is why it is essential to cut these distractions out of one’s life. I have found that turning on “monochrome mode” reduces the stimulation that phones offer as vibrant colors and shades are replaced with a black-and-white UI. The greyscale mode has been proven to be a “life-changing” fix to people who are easily distracted by social media. There are also apps such as Activity Monitor that regulate the usage of certain apps by setting timers on them. These changes will help transform our phones from being entertainment outlets to a productivity machines.
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Hi Yuhaen! I think that the topic that you mentioned in your blog post this week was something that I could really relate to. When I’m watching Instagram reels, there are times where I plan to do something after watching a video but eventually forget to when I end up continuing to scroll through reels. When this happens, I always try to scroll back up to the one I’ve watched as a way to try to remember what I was going to do. This is something that I thought only happened to me, so it was very interesting to learn that it was an actual psychological phenomenon as mentioned in your blog and seeing how the picture in your blog described the exact scenario that I’ve been experiencing.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s really true that our current generation’s attention spans have drastically decreased, and it’s definitely one of the most dangerous effects of social media. Similar to the way your dad scrolls on YouTube shorts, I sometimes catch myself scrolling through reels when I’m trying to do my homework, where it’s difficult for me to sometimes work for even 20 without needing to look at my phone. Although it’s much better for me now, I can really agree with your statement about needing to cut down on these distractions. Something that I’ve done to help me with this is to download an app blocker, which I use to restrict my access to social media apps such as TikTok and Instagram. I think I might also try to turn on monochrome mode as well, so thank you for the suggestion!
Yo, Yuhaen. Before I mention anything personal, I have to thank you for your unique look on our memory unit. Many other peers (including myself) have focused on literal memories or events in our lives as topics of discussion around personal themes or subjects whereas you investigate the psychological/correct terms of brain processes or sections.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you spoke about the “grey-scale” or “monochrome” mode you can install on your phone for less stimulation. I’ve used a similar technique for sleep using the darkest red color filter in IPhone. I also used to use the screen time function until my sleep schedule around school work basically meant the hours it covers can fluctuate. I’ll go ahead and try the new setting you proposed. It helped me sleep for a time but APENG’s already covered that this year.
I’ve also seen Kirkiimad’s videos on Youtube shorts. I find his content to be funny and relatable sometimes. He was actually a candidate for one of the shorts creators I used during my post on the 2024 election. I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s used short form content for pictures! See you Friday, Yuhaen! - Rafael Montes Barrera
Hello Yuhaen! Your Blog was really interesting, as I myself have had many memory lapses in the past couple of months. There are so many instances where human beings suffer from different issues, but memory lapses are one of those things that universally all human beings have a problem with to some extent. One of my most recent memory lapses include going to a room and forgetting why I went there in the first place. I have seen Instagram Reels and TikToks jokingly saying that when this type of particular event happens, it means that we have seen an alien and they would have to wipe out our memory. Jokes apart, I think a big reason to why these instances happen are because of how disconnected humans are with society today. we are always on social media, doomscrolling and focusing on things that are not that important. If we learn to fix that, I believe these memory lapses will occur fewer times.
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