Are we getting dumber by using the internet? There is no clear evidence for that. Digital dementia… does it exist? Neurologists Susan Greenfield and Manfred Spitzer (2012) argue that it does. They claim that the internet will rewire our brains in a detrimental way. At first glance, this seems to be correct, because the increase in IQ test results appears to have slowed down in recent years, while more and more people are gaining access to the internet. The cause of this, however, is not straightforward. For example, school tests in the recent past have also been heavily focused on IQ tests, and there is research suggesting that people are simply guessing more on difficult questions. The original growth, which occurred around 2000, seems to have been artificially induced at that time. Is there even a correlation between internet access and IQ at all? We do use Google more and more often as an 'external memory' (Sparrow, B. 2011). Students remember information that cannot be found on the internet better and information that they can store less well. However, they do remember relatively well where that information can be found. From research, you can cautiously conclude that we remember more selectively (Pink, 2010). So, we remember more of what is necessary: why remember street names and places if we have Google Maps? You could therefore argue that we are becoming smarter in efficiently using our memory. There is no research that clearly shows that we are becoming 'dumber' due to the advent of the internet.
De Bruyckere, P., Kirschner, P. & Hulshof, C. (2019). Juffen zijn toffer dan meesters. Nog meer mythes over leren en onderwijs. Amsterdam, Nederland: Lannoo Campus | Anderz.