20-04-2025
Short-Form Videos Degrade Our Capacity to Retain Intentions: Effect of

ABSTRACT
Social media platforms use short, highly engaging videos to catch users’ attention. While the short-form video feeds popularized by TikTok are rapidly spreading to other platforms, we do not yet understand their impact on cognitive functions. We conducted a between-subjects experiment (𝑁 = 60) investigating the impact of engaging with TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube while performing a Prospective Memory task (i.e., executing a previously planned action). The study required participants to remember intentions over interruptions. We found that the TikTok condition significantly degraded the users’ performance in this task. As none of the other conditions (Twitter, YouTube, no activity) had a similar effect, our results indicate that the combination of short videos and rapid context-switching impairs intention recall and execution. We contribute a quantified understanding of the effect of social media feed format on Prospective Memory and outline consequences for media technology designers to not harm the users’ memory and wellbeing.

• Prospective memory
• Prefrontal cortex:
  → Planning, decision-making, focus, self-control
• Hippocampus:
  → Forming new memories, spatial navigation, context recall
• Parietal lobe:
  → Attention shift, spatial awareness, processing touch & visuals
• Einstein-McDaniel: In the PM paradigm developed by Einstein-McDaniel, participants are informed that if a particular target cue appears while doing an ongoing activity, e.g., a lexical decision task, they should execute a distinct action, such as pressing a specific key on the keyboard. Retrieving the delayed intentions requires a monitoring process mediated by bottom-up and top-down processes. However, when we have to retain multiple intentions, we need to be in a preparatory state and actively monitor for the occurrence of target cues

Prospective Memory (PM):

1. Definition:
   • Prospective Memory is the ability to remember to do something in the future (e.g., remembering to take medicine, send an email, or press a key when a cue appears during a task).
2. Types:
   • Event-based PM: Remembering to act when a specific event or cue occurs (e.g., pressing a key when a target word appears).
   • Time-based PM: Remembering to do something at a specific time (e.g., taking a break at 3 PM).
3. Cognitive Processes Involved:
   • Attention: Monitoring for cues or events.
   • Working Memory: Holding the intention (e.g., pressing a key) while focusing on another task.
   • Executive Functions: Planning, decision-making, and task-switching to manage the competing demands of the current task and the prospective memory task.
4. Challenges:
   • Cognitive Load: PM requires cognitive resources, so if you're deeply focused on something (like a math problem), keeping future tasks in mind may reduce your focus and performance on the current task.
   • Strategic Monitoring: The brain actively monitors for the cue, which takes cognitive resources and can interfere with ongoing tasks. This is why remembering to do something later can disrupt deep focus or flow.
5. Two-Process View (Strategic Monitoring):
   • Process 1: Maintaining a "retrieval mode," where your brain stays activated and ready to remember the future task.
   • Process 2: Checking the environment for target events that signal it’s time to act.
   • Example: You’re solving a problem, but you need to press a key when a target cue appears—your brain has to monitor for this cue while focusing on the problem.
6. Age and PM:
   • PM tends to decline with age, as attention, planning, and self-monitoring abilities weaken.
   • Working memory also declines but at a slower rate than PM, affecting the ability to manage multiple tasks or intentions simultaneously.
7. Training Prospective Memory:
   • Practice intention-cue linking: For example, saying "When I enter the kitchen, I’ll drink water" helps build stronger cues.
   • Mental rehearsal: Before starting something, remind yourself of the task you need to do later.
   • Gradually increase complexity: Start with simple tasks and move to more complex ones as your PM improves.
8. Experiment (Einstein-McDaniel):
   • A task where participants need to perform an ongoing task (like a lexical decision task) and press a key when a target cue appears.
   • Results showed that maintaining a "retrieval mode" to monitor for cues consumes cognitive resources, impairing performance on the ongoing task.
9. Impact of PM on Focus:
   • Deep Focus (Flow): During intense focus, PM may be suppressed to allow all resources to go into the task at hand.
   • If PM is active while you're deeply focused, it can interfere with the task due to the cognitive load required for strategic monitoring.
     In essence, prospective memory involves maintaining awareness of future intentions while managing current tasks, which requires attention, memory, and executive control. It can be trained but tends to decline with age, and strategic monitoring (while helpful) can consume significant cognitive resources, possibly affecting focus on ongoing tasks.

• Associative thinking: Brain links ideas by similarity or co-occurrence. One thought triggers another automatically.
• Default Mode Network (DMN): Brain network active during rest or mind-wandering. Kicks in when not focused.
• Dopamine seeking: Brain craves pleasure or novelty. When bored, it recalls past fun (like reels) to feel rewarded.

Working memory

Working memory refers to the cognitive system responsible for temporarily holding and manipulating information required to perform tasks such as reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. It acts as a mental "workspace" where we process and manage information for a short period (usually seconds to minutes) while we work on a task.

Key Features of Working Memory:

1. Storage and Manipulation: It allows us to store information for a brief period and manipulate it to perform cognitive tasks like solving math problems or following multi-step instructions.
2. Limited Capacity: Working memory has a limited capacity, meaning it can only hold a small amount of information at a time (e.g., around 7 items or chunks of information, according to Miller's Law).
3. Active Processing: Unlike long-term memory, which stores information for extended periods, working memory is focused on active processing, such as keeping track of a phone number while you dial it.
4. Subcomponents: According to the Baddeley and Hitch model (1986), working memory is made up of:
   • Central Executive: The control system that allocates attention and resources to different tasks.
   • Phonological Loop: Manages verbal and auditory information.
   • Visuospatial Sketchpad: Manages visual and spatial information.
   • Episodic Buffer: Integrates information from different sources into coherent episodes.

Examples:

• Mental Math: When calculating 24 × 7 in your head, working memory helps you hold the intermediate steps in mind (e.g., multiplying 20 × 7 and 4 × 7) and combine them.
• Remembering Instructions: If someone gives you a set of directions to follow, your working memory helps you keep track of those steps until you complete the task.

Working Memory vs. Short-Term Memory:

While the terms are often used interchangeably, working memory is more dynamic and involves both storage and manipulation of information, whereas short-term memory typically refers to passive retention of information over a brief period without active processing.

Significance:

Working memory is crucial for everyday functions, such as following conversations, reasoning, and learning new skills. It plays a vital role in academic achievement, especially in areas like mathematics, reading comprehension, and problem-solving.

generally, higher working memory is associated with higher IQ, as working memory is crucial for tasks like problem-solving, reasoning, and learning new information, which are key components of intelligence. However, IQ is influenced by a variety of factors, and working memory is just one of them.

working memory can be improved with practice and training. Cognitive exercises, like memory games, attention training, and tasks that require multi-tasking or mental manipulation of information, can enhance working memory capacity over time.
However, IQ is influenced by many factors, including genetics and environment. While training working memory may lead to improvements in cognitive tasks, it doesn't necessarily result in a permanent increase in IQ. IQ can improve to some extent with specific training, but its upper limit is often thought to be influenced by both innate ability and early development.

Transition from system 2 to system 1 for various task loads

Assumptions:

• Simple Task: Learning basic skills, such as basic arithmetic or basic physical tasks.
• Moderate Task: Learning moderately complex skills, such as a new language or intermediate math.
• Complex Task: Mastering skills that require extensive learning and practice, such as learning a musical instrument or advanced programming.