Having a smartphone is an essential part of life for many people. We use them to keep in contact with others, keep ourselves entertained, and keep track of important dates and appointments. Many benefits come with using smartphones, but did you know that using a smartphone can actually boost your memory skills? Scientists once believed that using too much technology could reduce our brain function, but that appears not to be the case. Research published in “Journal of Experimental Psychology: General” found that digital devices help people store and remember important information, which frees up their memory to recall additional, less important things. During the study, participants aged 18-71 played a memory task on a touchscreen digital tablet or computer. They were shown up to 12 numbered circles on the screen and needed to drag specific circles to the left or the right. They were paid varying amounts depending on how many circles they dragged to the correct spot. One side was considered high-value, and circles correctly dragged to this side were worth 10 times more than the other side.
Participants needed to use their memory for half of the trials and could set reminders on their devices for the other half. Most participants set reminders for the high-value circles. When they did so, their memory for those circles improved by 18%. Their memory also improved by 27% for low-value circles, even though they didn’t set reminders for those. When the reminders were taken away, participants remembered the lower-value circles better than the high-value, which showed they had forgotten about the high- value circles they entrusted to their devices. “We wanted to explore how storing information in a digital device could influence memory abilities,” senior author Dr. Sam Gilbert said. “We found that when people were allowed to use an external memory, the device helped them to remember the information they had saved into it.” Smartphones are an incredible blessing in our lives. They can bring benefits we would never have imagined when used properly, including improved memory.
CAN SMARTPHONES BOOST OUR MEMORY SKILLS?
SUDOKU
MUNCHIES WITH MOLLY
SPOOKY SPAGHETTI AND EYEBALLS Inspired by FavFamilyRecipes.com
INGREDIENTS •
24 oz frozen meatballs 16 oz spaghetti noodles 24-oz jar spaghetti sauce
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2–3 slices of mozzarella cheese
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Sliced black olives
DIRECTIONS
1. Cook frozen meatballs according to package instructions, then keep warm in oven on low heat. 2. In a large pot, bring water to a boil and add spaghetti noodles. Cook until tender and drain. 3. In a small pot, heat spaghetti sauce over medium heat until warm. 4. After everything is cooked, mix noodles and spaghetti sauce together, then put the mixture into a serving bowl. 5. Slice the meatballs in half and mix half of the slices into spaghetti. Top the spaghetti with the remaining meatball slices with the flat sides up. 6. Cut slices of mozzarella cheese into circles and place one slice on each of the flat-topped meatballs. Then, put one black olive over each cheese circle to form the eyeballs. Serve and enjoy!
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