Attentional scope is reduced by Internet use: A behavior and ERP study.

ABSTRACT: As a crucial living environment, the Internet shapes cognition. The Internet provides massive information that can be accessed quickly via hyperlinks, but the information is typically fragmentary and concrete rather than integrative. According to construal level theory, the processing of this concrete and fragmentary information, should reduce attentional scope. Two experiments were conducted to test this hypothesis. In Experiment 1, three groups of participants were asked to shop online, read magazines or have a rest respectively, and a divided attention Navon-letter task was employed to measure the attentional scope before and after the assigned activity. It was found that the difference between reaction times in response to local vs. global targets was decreased only after Internet use,

SUBMITTER: Peng M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5993299 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature