We read the research on what phones, feeds and AI do to attention, memory and learning, and report what it actually shows. Including when the answer is inconvenient.
Choose a topic to browse its research-led guides and articles.
What phones, feeds and notifications actually do to attention, and which findings survived replication.
Explore topicWhat changes when notes, search, study tools and AI carry part of the thinking for us.
Explore topicHow interfaces use ranking, defaults, autoplay and stopping cues to influence what we do next.
Explore topicWe will point you at the research that speaks to it.
New research-led articles on the human mind under digital pressure.
Nine-ending prices lifted demand in three field experiments, most on new items. The left-digit effect needs the first digit to change, and one field test found nothing.
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The largest growth mindset trial found 0.10 of a grade point for lower-achieving students. A bias-corrected meta-analysis of 63 studies found no reliable effect.
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Bloom’s two-sigma tutoring figure came from two unreplicated three-week dissertations. Randomised trials put tutoring’s typical effect at about a third of a standard deviation.
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The researchers behind the 10,000-hour rule say the number was only an average. Pooled studies find deliberate practice explains 14% of performance differences overall, and 1% in professions.
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The forgetting curve is real and has replicated, but it comes from one man learning nonsense syllables, measured by relearning effort. The training-slide percentages attached to it trace to no study we could find.
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Chewing gum may lift performance on a boring, sustained task for a short period, probably through arousal. The positive studies are small, one standard memory paradigm found nothing, and Wrigley founded an institute to fund the research.
Read articleEvery load-bearing claim is traced to a named source. Where a finding failed to replicate, we say so. Where the research does not settle a question, we say that instead of guessing.
Our research standardsAlongside the articles, we keep a short library of books, tools and further reading relevant to attention, memory and digital design. Every entry is chosen on editorial merit, and any paid link is labelled as such.
Browse the library
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