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Michele Lin

Mrs. Sneed

CCCA Capstone

31 August 2018

Annotated Bibliography

For my capstone project, I am interested in researching how technology addiction affects

cognitive development, social interactions, and physical and mental health.. In order to do this, I
will research the areas of the brain digital technology disturbs as well as how it changes the
brain in the future. I am interested in this area because digital media is constantly developing
and more and more children and adolescents are becoming addicted to their electronic devices.
In each successive generation, more parents are abandoning time spent reading and interacting
with their child and instead exposing them to television at a very young age, which can affect the
way children develop and live.

Bahl, Rajiv. “Blue Light from Your Phone May Be Permanently Damaging Your Eyes.”

healthline, 24 August 2018. www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/26780069/smartphone-

overuse-may-damage-eyes-say-opticians. Accessed 15 August 2018.

Bahl discusses how digital technology can not only cause obesity in young children but also can

permanently damage your eyes. Staring at a phone for long periods of time strains the eyes and

can increase the chance of obtaining macular degeneration. One other effect from technology

addiction damaging the eyes is blurred vision and headaches. According to Bahl, macular

degeneration is one of the leading causes to vision loss.

Briggs, Saga. “6 Ways Digital Media Impacts the Brain.” Inform Ed, Open Colleges, 12

September 2016, www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/5-ways-digital-media-

impacts-brain. Accessed 27 August 2018.

Briggs discusses the impacts of digital media on memory, attitude, empathy, and attention. She

discusses how an average person spends more time on social media than on eating and

exercising. Digital media has also made people more reliant on their phones to remember things,
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causing a decrease in memory storage in the brain. According to Briggs, she explains that while

being on a device and task may seem like a good way to enhance brain focus, the truth behind it

is that some of the information will go to the wrong part of the brain, placing long-term

memories to the short term memory division.

Fader, Sarah. “Social Media Obsession and Anxiety.” Anxiety and Depression Association of

America. 18 October 2018. www.adaa.org/social-media-obsession. Accessed 13 August

2018.

Fader discusses how technology has become unavoidable in day-to-day life. This becomes a big

issue because technology addiction is one of the main causes for people with anxiety or some

sort of mental illness. Technology addiction tends to cause teens to compare themselves to what

they see on social media and get an idea of what “perfectionism” should look like. Fader

discusses that this becomes an issue since it causes many to have depression and change their

appearance to reach that idea of “perfectionism”

Farmer, Brandon. “Childhood Obesity and Technology: Overcoming the Challenges.” Serving

Kids Hope, 1 July 2015. www.servingkidshope.org/childhood-obesity-and-technology-

overcoming-the-challenges. Accessed 20 August 2018.

Farmer discusses how many parents tend to give their child tablets or have them watch television

because it attracts their attention and keeps them company; however the problem to this is that is

becomes a habit. Sitting on a couch watching television for hours can result in lack of exercise.

Farmer goes on to discuss that with the lack of exercise, many children tend to be overweight.

Watching television also results in eating some sort of unhealthy food with it and combined with

lack of exercise, overcoming the habit can be hard to break.

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Gregoire, Carolyn. “How Technology is Warping Your Memory?” HuffPost, 6 December 2017.

www.huffpost.com/entry/technology-changes-memory_n_4414778. Accessed 17 August

2018.

Gregoire discusses once of the negative effects of technology. Excess technology use can result

in a decrease in size of the outer part of the brain making it harder to store things in long-term

memory. With the extensive use of electronic devices, several young adolescents can suffer from

chronic illnesses such as deficit attention disorder and obesity, which has increased significantly

in younger teens. Lack in communication skills have also shown to be an effect of the overuse of

digital technology.

“How Technology Impacts Your Sleep and What To Do About It.” Sleep Help Institute.

www.sleephelp.org/how-technology-affects-sleep. Accessed 16 August 2018.

The author discusses how sleep cycles and attention span affects digital technology. The bright

light from phones, tablets, or any other electronic device disturbs the brain, confusing the brain

into deliberating if it is still daytime. Because of this, sleep cycles are disturbed causing many

children to have sleep difficulties. Not only do phones affect sleep cycles, but they also affects

the attention span as well.

Hurley, Katie. “Social Media and Teens: How Does Social Media Affect Teenagers’ Mental

Health.” Psycom, 13 February 2018. www.psycom.net/social-media-teen-mental-health.

Accessed 16 August 2018.

Hurley discusses negative aspects of social media on emotional wellbeing. She explains that

many social media users tend to feel depressed and have low self-esteem. This is due to the fact

that many teens who log on to their social media accounts tend to compare themselves to others
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online and feel down about their own lives. Some develop low self-esteem because they feel

excluded from a friend activity and tend to feel an absence of love.

“Imagination – What is the impact of early technology exposure on creativity?” Zone In

Workshops. www.zoneinworkshops.com/imagination-what-is-the-impact-of-early-

technology-exposure-on-creativity. Accessed 18 August 2018.

The author discusses the positive effects of how electronic games can promote a beneficial way

to help kids learn vocabulary and language. He discusses how downloaded games on iPads can

enhance a child’s vocabulary skills as well as their reading skills. It allows them to try to

understand how the device works and gives them the opportunity to enhance their curiosity and

imagination.

Jacobson, Tyler. “How Technology Affects the Way Our Brain Works.” PsychCentral, 28 May

2018, www.psychcentral.com/blog/how-technology-affects-the-way-our-brain-works.

Accessed 27 August 2018.

Jacobson discusses how many people believe that they multitask easily and do several things

while engaging on the phone at the same time, but multitasking in general has actually been

proven impossible. He explains that it actually reduces the efficiency and attention span of the

brain. Face to face interactions have also declined with each generation and the attention span

has also decreased. The attention span of an average person went from 12 seconds to only 8,

seconds which is less than a goldfish’s attention span.

Johnson, Cathy. “How Technology Use Messes With Your Sleep and What You Can Do About

It.” Health, ABC News. 21 October 2016. www.abc.net.au/news/health/2016-10-21/how-

technology-use-messes-with-your-sleep. Accessed 16 August 2018.

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Johnson discusses the negative effects technology addiction has on sleep. She discusses how blue

light emitted from a phone is the problem that keep many teens awake and alert instead of having

them fall asleep. Johnson also mentions several remedies teens can use to have a better sleep.

Katie. “Is Technology Killing Creativity?” Rindle. www.hello.rindle.com/is-technology-killing-

creativity. Accessed 21 August 2018.

Katie discusses how digital technology’s effect today is different from previous years. Reading

books and engaging in them stimulated the brain to focus as well as helping it strengthen the

imagination. In past generations, children would spend majority of their time reading and

engaging in books with very few distractions. This intense reading helps boost their attention

span and test their memory.

Patel, Dhruvin. “Will Technology Ruin Your Child’s Development?.” Medium, Thrive Global, 4

March 2017, www.medium.com/thrive-global/will-technology-ruin-your-childrens-

development. Accessed 21 August 2018.

Patel discusses the lack of attention span, critical thinking skills, and emotional skills caused by

an excess use of technology. He discusses how children and adolescents who spend majority of

their time on electronic devices tend to focus less than kids who use it only minimally. Also,

adolescents who occupy their time on social media are more prone to have low self-esteem. They

tend to feel and develop emotions differently from kids who spend a healthy amount of time on

their electronic devices.

“Real Effects of Technology on Your Health.” Everyday Health, 15 November 2017.

www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/internet-addiction/real-effects-technology-

on-your-health. Accessed 21 August 2018.

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The author discusses the clinical disorder known as technology addiction that is diagnosable in

China. However, in the US, technology addiction can not be diagnosed. Children and adolescents

are allowed on electronic devices for no more than two hours. Of course there are always some

parents who give their child their phones as a distraction to keep the child company. According

to the author, with young children, it is much easier to control how much time they spend on

electronic devices since they are more likely using their parent’s devices. Unfortunately with

teens using their own personal devices, it is much harder to control the amount of time they

spend on those devices.

“Science in Our World: Certainty and Controversy.” Penn State. 18 October 2016.

www.sites.psu.edu/siowfa16/2016/10/18/is-technology-affecting-our-attention-span.

The author discusses the negative effects technology has on younger children. She explains the

negative impact electronic devices have on brain development such as a blockage from learning

language skills as well as writing skills. In fact, pediatricians discourage parents from displaying

digital technologies to any child younger than two. The time spent on electronic devices take

away the time the child could be spent reading and developing critical thinking skills.

“Technology in 2017: What impact does it have on mental health?” Bradley University, 28

March 2017. www.onlinedegrees.bradley.edu/resources/articles/technology-in-2017-

what-impact-does-it-have-on-mental-heath. Accessed 6 August 2018.

The author discusses how digital technology can not only provoke anxiety but also prevent the

brain from higher level thinking. Anxiety forms from technology because it makes one

constantly feel the need to connect with others through social media, and the pressure that dawns

upon them causes a high level of anxiety. One other effect from digital technology is the inability

to multitask successfully.
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Thorne, Gelnda. “What are Some Problems Students Have With Memory.” Center for Learning

and Development, 1 January 2008. www.cdl.org/articles/what-are-some-problems-

students-have-with-memory. Accessed 11 August 2018.

Thorne discusses how different television shows can affect the brain in different ways. For

example, shows like “Dora” can have a positive impact on the brain, increasing a child’s

memory size, vocabulary and its language skills. However, shows like “Teletubbies” or

“Spongebob” can actually show signs of a decrease in intellect and vocabulary and language

skills.

“Top 5 Negative Effects of Technology You Even Don’t Suspect.” Kidslox, 8 May 2018.

www.kidslox.com/blog/top-5-negative-effects-of-technology-you-even-dont-suspect.

Accessed 11 August 2018.

The author discusses several effects that technology addiction can affect such as a decrease in

memory, attention span, and sleep. The author goes on to explain the negative effects in

children’s physical and mental health. Physical and mental health are already a struggle for

several children, teens and even adults and with the addition of technology addiction, their health

can decline even further.