News Investigation

Mindless Scrolling Can Disturb Quality of Cognitive Processing: NIMHANS Researchers

Jan 2024 🇮🇳 The Hindu

This Hindu article, reported by Afshan Yasmeen, covers NIMHANS research led by Manoj Kumar Sharma into what the piece calls 'mindless scrolling' — extended, purposeless scrolling through social feeds. Sharma and his research team describe this pattern as associated with disturbed cognitive processing, reduced productivity, and weakened attention, and the article cites findings that it can take roughly 23 minutes, on average, to fully regain focus after a digital distraction. The piece frames mindless scrolling as arising from a combination of smartphone ubiquity and platforms' attention-capturing design choices, rather than as a simple personal failing. TechKids Foundation cites this as SHUT Clinic-linked research on attention and scrolling behavior reported to a general audience.

~23 minutes to fully restore attention after a digital distraction

The article reports research finding that it takes an average of 23 minutes to fully restore attention following a digital distraction, cited in connection with Sharma's team's work on mindless scrolling.

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CITATION

Yasmeen, Afshan. "Mindless Scrolling Can Disturb Quality of Cognitive Processing: NIMHANS Researchers." The Hindu, January 6, 2024. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/mindless-scrolling-can-disturb-quality-of-cognitive-processing-nimhans-article/article67713284.ece

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