Impact of Digital Addiction and Cognitive Offloading on Prospective Memory of Young Adults

Page: 439-445
Veena Prathap and Swapnil Singh (Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, New Delhi)

It’s a proven fact that smartphones and virtual gadgets are identified as an effective tool that, when used in a limit, can enhance human cognition, moreover an emerging perception is that habitual involvement with these devices may also have a negative and lasting repercussion on people’s’ capability to carry out forthcoming intended actions, and further affect potential prospective memory. The current study takes into consideration the potential impact of virtual dependency and cognitive offloading on the prospective memory of the college students (20-22 years). The results showed that the more the students were addicted to their digital devices and the more the students cognitively offloaded, the higher was the decline in their prospective memory. Regression analysis suggested that digital addiction significantly predicted prospective memory in college students. These findings raise concern about the well-being and safety of the college students. Implications and future indications have been further discussed in the study.