Human Capacity in the Attention Economy: How Information Technology Changes How We Think, Feel and Behave

This edited volume investigates the impact of information technology through the lens of human cognitive capacity and the ways in which it influences how we think, feel, and behave.

Our endless use of smartphones, unbridled internet access, and the ubiquity of applications on these platforms touches many facets of our lives. The book offers a general framework that articulates how basic attentional and cognitive processes are impacted by information technology, and how more complex aspects of human experience are affected as a result.

Setting aside issues of goodness or harmfulness of the internet and related technologies, each chapter considers a different aspect of the ways in which humans, with limited information processing capabilities, interact with an almost infinite informational environment.

The authors examine what makes these technologies so addictive; their effect on emotional well‑being, memory, and learning; and their impact on our ability to engage in important daily activities, like driving a car. Other contributors discuss the replenishment of depleted cognitive reserves, and offer recommendations to help us chart a way forward in today’s attention economy.