The Overflowing BrainThe Overflowing Brain
Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory
Title rated 3 out of 5 stars, based on 1 ratings(1 rating)
Unknown, 2009
Current format, Unknown, 2009, , No Longer Available.Unknown, 2009
Current format, Unknown, 2009, , No Longer Available. Offered in 0 more formatsAs the pace of technological change accelerates, we are increasinlgy experiencing a state of information overload. Statistics show that we are interupted every three minutes during the course of the work day. Multitasking between email, cell-phone, text messages, and four or five websiteswhile listening to an I-pod forces the brain to process more and more informaton at greater and greater speeds. And yet the human brain has hardly changed in the last 40,000 years.Are all these high-tech advances overtaxing our Stone-Age brains or is the contant flood of information good for us, giving our brains the daily exercise they seem to crave? In The Overflowing Brain, cognitive scientist Torkel Klingberg takes us on a journey into the limits and possibilities of thebrain. He suggests that we should acknowledge and embrace our desire for information and mental challenges, but try to find a balance between demand and capacity. Klingberg explores the cognitive demands, or "complexity," of everyday life and how the brain tries to meet them. He identifies differenttypes of attention, such as stimulus-driven and controlled attention, but focuses chiefly on "working memory," our capactiy to keep information in mind for short periods of time. Dr Klingberg asserts that working memory capacity-long thought to be static and hardwired in the brain-can be improved bytraining, and that the increasing demands on working memory may actually have a constructive effect: as demands on the human brain increase, so does its capacity.The book ends with a discussion of the future of brain development and how we can best handle information overload in our everyday lives. Klingberg suggests how we might find a balance between demand and capacity and move from feeling ovewhelmed to deeply engaged.
Title availability
About
Subject and genre
Details
Publication
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.
Opinion
More from the community
Community lists featuring this title
There are no community lists featuring this title
Community contributions
There are no quotations from this title
There are no quotations from this title
From the community