Access to the Internet makes us less willing to say we know things

In some contexts, the people in this study with access to the Internet reported feeling as though they knew less compared to the people without access.

People are less willing to rely on their knowledge and say they know something when they have access to the Internet, suggesting that our connection to the web is affecting how we think.

Professor Evan F. Risko, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, led a recent study where the team asked about 100 participants a series of general-knowledge questions, such as naming the capital of France. Participants indicated if they knew the answer or not. For half of the study, participants had access to the Internet. They had to look up the answer when they responded that they did not know the answer. In the other half of the study, participants did not have access to the Internet.

The team found that the people who had access to the web were about 5 per cent more likely to say that they did not know the answer to the question. Furthermore, in some contexts, the people with access to the Internet reported feeling as though they knew less compared to the people without access.

"With the ubiquity of the Internet, we are almost constantly connected to large amounts of information. And when that data is within reach, people seem less likely to rely on their own knowledge," said Professor Risko, Canada Research Chair in Embodied and Embedded Cognition.

In interpreting the results, the researchers speculated that access to the Internet might make it less acceptable to say you know something but are incorrect. It is also possible that participants were more likely to say they didn't know an answer when they had access to the web because online searching offers an opportunity to confirm their answer or resolve their curiosity, and the process of finding out is rewarding.

"Our results suggest that access to the Internet affects the decisions we make about what we know and don't know," said Risko. "We hope this research contributes to our growing understanding of how easy access to massive amounts of information can influence our thinking and behaviour."

David McLean and Amanda Ferguson, research assistants, are co-authors of the study, which appears in the journal, Consciousness and Cognition. Professor Risko plans to further the research in this area by investigating the factors that lead to individuals' reduced willingness to respond when they have access to the web.

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Waterloo. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Amanda M. Ferguson, David McLean, Evan F. Risko. Answers at your fingertips: Access to the Internet influences willingness to answer questions. Consciousness and Cognition, 2015; 37: 91 DOI:10.1016/j.concog.2015.08.008

Playing 3-D video games can boost memory formation

UCI professor of neurobiology & behavior Craig Stark, here holding a 3-D-printed model of his own hippocampus, says that "video games may be a nice, viable route" to maintaining cognitive health

Don't put that controller down just yet. Playing three-dimensional video games -- besides being lots of fun -- can boost the formation of memories, according to University of California, Irvine neurobiologists.

Along with adding to the trove of research that shows these games can improve eye-hand coordination and reaction time, this finding shows the potential for novel virtual approaches to helping people who lose memory as they age or suffer from dementia. Study results appear Dec. 9 in The Journal of Neuroscience.

For their research, Craig Stark and Dane Clemenson of UCI's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory recruited non-gamer college students to play either a video game with a passive, two-dimensional environment ("Angry Birds") or one with an intricate, 3-D setting ("Super Mario 3D World") for 30 minutes per day over two weeks.

Before and after the two-week period, the students took memory tests that engaged the brain's hippocampus, the region associated with complex learning and memory. They were given a series of pictures of everyday objects to study. Then they were shown images of the same objects, new ones and others that differed slightly from the original items and asked to categorize them. Recognition of the slightly altered images requires the hippocampus, Stark said, and his earlier research had demonstrated that the ability to do this clearly declines with age. This is a large part of why it's so difficult to learn new names or remember where you put your keys as you get older.

Students playing the 3-D video game improved their scores on the memory test, while the 2-D gamers did not. The boost was not small either. Memory performance increased by about 12 percent, the same amount it normally decreases between the ages of 45 and 70.

In previous studies on rodents, postdoctoral scholar Clemenson and others showed that exploring the environment resulted in the growth of new neurons that became entrenched in the hippocampus' memory circuit and increased neuronal signaling networks. Stark noted some commonalities between the 3-D game the humans played and the environment the rodents explored -- qualities lacking in the 2-D game.

"First, the 3-D games have a few things the 2-D ones do not," he said. "They've got a lot more spatial information in there to explore. Second, they're much more complex, with a lot more information to learn. Either way, we know this kind of learning and memory not only stimulates but requires the hippocampus."

Stark added that it's unclear whether the overall amount of information and complexity in the 3-D game or the spatial relationships and exploration is stimulating the hippocampus. "This is one question we're following up on," he said.

Unlike typical brain training programs, the professor of neurobiology & behavior pointed out, video games are not created with specific cognitive processes in mind but rather are designed to immerse users in the characters and adventure. They draw on many cognitive processes, including visual, spatial, emotional, motivational, attentional, critical thinking, problem-solving and working memory.

"It's quite possible that by explicitly avoiding a narrow focus on a single ... cognitive domain and by more closely paralleling natural experience, immersive video games may be better suited to provide enriching experiences that translate into functional gains," Stark said.

The next step for him and his colleagues is to determine if environmental enrichment -- either through 3-D video games or real-world exploration experiences -- can reverse the hippocampal-dependent cognitive deficits present in older populations. This effort is funded by a $300,000 Dana Foundation grant.

"Can we use this video game approach to help improve hippocampus functioning?" Stark asked. "It's often suggested that an active, engaged lifestyle can be a real factor in stemming cognitive aging. While we can't all travel the world on vacation, we can do many other things to keep us cognitively engaged and active. Video games may be a nice, viable route."

A video about the research can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1YfgMVhhdA&feature=youtu.be

Reference: Journal of Neuroscience, Dec 9, 2015, in press: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2580-15.2015

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Irvine. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

New research exploits extraordinary properties of graphene

Innovative new research led by the University of Exeter has demonstrated how the extraordinary properties of graphene can be exploited to create artificial structures that can be used to control and manipulate electromagnetic radiation over a wide range of wavelengths.

A team of international scientists, led by Professor Geoff Nash from the University of Exeter, have engineered a remarkable new hybrid structure, or metamaterial, that possesses specific characteristics that are not found in natural materials.

The collaborative team combined nano-ribbons of graphene, in which electrons are able to oscillate backwards and forwards, together with a type of antenna called a split ring resonator.

Careful design of these two elements leads to a system which strongly interacts with electromagnetic radiation. In these experiments the team used light with very long wavelengths, far beyond what the human eye can see, to show that these new structure can be used as a type of optical switch to interrupt, and turn on and off, a beam of this light very quickly.

The collaborative international research, including experts from the University of Exeter, England, and teams led by Dr Sergey Mikhailov at the University of Augsburg, Germany, and Professor Jérôme Faist at ETH Zurich, is published in respected scientific journal, Nature Communications.

Professor Geoff Nash, from the University of Exeter's Department of Engineering said: "In these novel results we demonstrate a new type of structure which can be used not only as an exciting test bed to explore the underlying new science, but that could form the basis of a range of technologically important components".

The research was carried out as part of the EU FET Open Project GOSFEL , which aims to develop an entirely new laser source for applications such as gas sensing. Professor Nash currently also holds an EPSRC in Frontier Manufacturing.

Professor Nash, who is also Director of Natural Sciences at Exeter added: "One of the key characteristics of our structure is that it has the effect of focussing the electromagnetic radiation into an area much smaller than its wavelength.

"This could potentially lead to new ways of undertaking ultra-high resolution spectroscopy of, for example, bio molecules. Working with colleagues in Biosciences we are already starting to explore some of these effects, with undergraduates from our innovative interdisciplinary Natural Sciences programme, and postgraduates from the Exeter EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Metamaterials."

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Exeter.Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Peter Q. Liu, Isaac J. Luxmoore, Sergey A. Mikhailov, Nadja A. Savostianova, Federico Valmorra, Jérôme Faist, Geoffrey R. Nash.Highly tunable hybrid metamaterials employing split-ring resonators strongly coupled to graphene surface plasmons. Nature Communications, 2015; 6: 8969 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9969

Storing electricity in paper

This piece of power paper can store 1F

Researchers at Linköping University's Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Sweden, have developed power paper -- a new material with an outstanding ability to store energy. The material consists of nanocellulose and a conductive polymer. The results have been published in Advanced Science.

One sheet, 15 centimetres in diameter and a few tenths of a millimetre thick can store as much as 1 F, which is similar to the supercapacitors currently on the market. The material can be recharged hundreds of times and each charge only takes a few seconds.

It's a dream product in a world where the increased use of renewable energy requires new methods for energy storage -- from summer to winter, from a windy day to a calm one, from a sunny day to one with heavy cloud cover.

"Thin films that function as capacitors have existed for some time. What we have done is to produce the material in three dimensions. We can produce thick sheets," says Xavier Crispin, professor of organic electronics and co-author to the article just published in Advanced Science.

Other co-authors are researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Innventia, Technical University of Denmark and the University of Kentucky.

The material, power paper, looks and feels like a slightly plasticky paper and the researchers have amused themselves by using one piece to make an origami swan -- which gives an indication of its strength.

The structural foundation of the material is nanocellulose, which is cellulose fibres which, using high-pressure water, are broken down into fibres as thin as 20 nm in diameter. With the cellulose fibres in a solution of water, an electrically charged polymer (PEDOT:PSS), also in a water solution, is added. The polymer then forms a thin coating around the fibres.

"The covered fibres are in tangles, where the liquid in the spaces between them functions as an electrolyte," explains Jesper Edberg, doctoral student, who conducted the experiments together with Abdellah Malti, who recently completed his doctorate.

The new cellulose-polymer material has set a new world record in simultaneous conductivity for ions and electrons, which explains its exceptional capacity for energy storage. It also opens the door to continued development toward even higher capacity. Unlike the batteries and capacitors currently on the market, power paper is produced from simple materials -- renewable cellulose and an easily available polymer. It is light in weight, it requires no dangerous chemicals or heavy metals and it is waterproof.

The Power Papers project has been financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation since 2012.

"They leave us to our research, without demanding lengthy reports, and they trust us. We have a lot of pressure on us to deliver, but it's ok if it takes time, and we're grateful for that," says Professor Magnus Berggren, director of the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University.

The new power paper is just like regular pulp, which has to be dehydrated when making paper. The challenge is to develop an industrial-scale process for this.

"Together with KTH, Acreo and Innventia we just received SEK 34 million from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research to continue our efforts to develop a rational production method, a paper machine for power paper," says Professor Berggren.

Power paper -- Four world records

Highest charge and capacitance in organic electronics, 1 C and 2 F (Coulomb and Farad).

Highest measured current in an organic conductor, 1 A (Ampere).

Highest capacity to simultaneously conduct ions and electrons.

Highest transconductance in a transistor, 1 S (Siemens)

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Linköping University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Abdellah Malti, Jesper Edberg, Hjalmar Granberg, Zia Ullah Khan, Jens W. Andreasen, Xianjie Liu, Dan Zhao, Hao Zhang, Yulong Yao, Joseph W. Brill, Isak Engquist, Mats Fahlman, Lars Wågberg, Xavier Crispin, Magnus Berggren. An Organic Mixed Ion-Electron Conductor for Power Electronics. Advanced Science, 2015; DOI:10.1002/advs.201500305