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Is there actually any evidence that an “attention span” can be affected in any way? I’m not knowledgeable about any psychological studies on this topic. My inst

Is there actually any evidence that an “attention span” can be affected in any way? I’m not knowledgeable about any psychological studies on this topic. My instinct says that young people consume short form content because that’s their preference. I’m sure they’re also still capable of like watching a movie.

fxwin 2y ago
All i've really got is personal anecdotes, but i've noticed that excessive scrolling (~consuming short form/attention grabbing content) in the evening/morning correlates negatively with my ability to focus on longer, less dopamine-rewarding tasks. This usually goes away after a few days of reducing said behaviors, so it seems at least mostly temporary (the same might not be true in teenagers or younger)
nunodonato 2y ago
they watch a movie AND their instagram/tiktok feed at the same time
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  Yes, I'm not so sure that they are capable of watching a movie. I tried to watch TV with my sister and failed because she spent the time looking at her phone.
- Temporary_31337 2y ago
  No such thing as multitasking. You just context switching frequently so any movie with any depth to the story will be hard to follow this way
indigo945 2y ago
Yes, there is. (Mind you, I'm not a psychologist, this is just from a quick online search.) There's a study from 2012 linking social media usage to reduced academic performance and a lowered attention span [1]. A recent study has shown that excessive TikTok use in particular is linked to short-term memory deterioration [2]. I assume this is a somewhat trendy field of research in psychology, so you can likely find more studies, should you want to. [1]: Paul, Baker et al (2012): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563212001665?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475... [2]: Sha, Dong (2021): https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820 https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820
yungporko 2y ago
i've met countless people who aren't capable of watching a movie, they just sit there looking at their phone the whole time then claim the movie was stupid and/or boring and that they "didn't get it". if you ask them what a good movie is, they say something they liked from before they became phone addicts because they literally haven't watched a movie since. i also personally struggle a bit with older movies (80s/early 90s) because they tend to have a slower pace and i instinctively want to start multitasking every time there's a lull in the action. i actually watched die hard for the first time last night and found it kinda slow and boring despite it being one of the most iconic action movies of all time. there may or may not be a scientific study to suggest it can happen (although i assume there is) but based on my own experiences i am 100% certain that it is happening.
- KptMarchewa 2y ago
  I've personally found newer slightly slower movies like Villeneuve ones are really good.
- fransje26 2y ago
  > [I] actually watched die hard for the first time last night and found it kinda slow Oh man! If you think that is slow, don't go further back in time... But you want a taste of slow, here is some inspiration, courtesy of "Once Upon a Time in the West": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QML28YQBvyc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QML28YQBvyc > and [I] instinctively want to start multitasking every time there's a lull in the action. That's your cue for an attention problem right there. For the fun of it, try to notice in how many other situations you might have the same tendency to look for a "multitasking" distraction.
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  I've tried watching classics like the old Lynch take on Dune or 2001, and I couldn't finish them; I don't believe it's entirely down to phones / tech-induced attention deficit, but simply due to different filmmaking styles of the time, where I presume visuals and the experience had a much higher impact on their own. As someone else metioned, Villeneuve's films echo these slow burners, but they're a bit more modernised. But, I need to make time to watch films like that, ideally on my own because in a house with family and youth with both clinically diagnosed ADHD and a chronic youtube/tiktok/gaming-with-voice-chat addiction, getting three undisturbed quiet hours to myself is difficult.
smolder 2y ago
I'm not personally aware of academic study of this (and haven't looked, admittedly,) but my experience and anecdata from others I've known says that yes it can be very affected --our attention spans are malleable and affected by our environment. When I've been going hard on (overstimulated by) low-attention span content like social media, video games, certain video content, it has a pronounced impact on my ability to focus on things longer term. The best example is reading a book. I end up having to reread sentences and paragraphs frequently as my mind wanders from what the words are conveying. It takes a while to get into the groove of following the thread of the writing. Spending some time in a less stimulating environment like going camping, practicing meditation, or just 'unplugging' seems to be restorative to that ability to focus. Other people have shared similar experiences with me many times as this subject comes up. Again, my experience, but this capacity for focus applies to many things beyond just reading a book, like tackling programming problems or having a deep and nuanced conversation, effectively communicating complex ideas and being able to receive the same.
NiloCK 2y ago
Being in the same room that a movie is displayed movie is not attending to it. See, eg, https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/cellphones-in-theatres-1.7397439 https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/cellphones-in-theatres... In any case, if watching a movie is the counterexample it is probably in the category of "damning with faint evidence". This is still passive media which carries on whether or not the watcher is attending. Reading a book for an hour or two is different, because the pages don't turn themselves. People in a position to notice changes in these capabilities have noticed them. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-eli...
- fransje26 2y ago
  > People in a position to notice changes in these capabilities have noticed them. You mean, you can't notice that pages of a book don't turn themselves if you don't read books? ;-)
triceratops 2y ago
Be right back, doing some research on this.
NalNezumi 2y ago
Posted a while ago on HN: https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2023/07/24/your-mystery-have-attention-spans-been-declining/ https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2023/07/24/your-mystery-have-a... A good litterature survey, easy to follow. Better than reading one or two isolated studies, since it does ask the crucial question of "well what is (and how do you measure) attention span anyway?" Less rigorous but similar conclusion in video if you prefer https://youtu.be/aDfeOvUZ7Kk?feature=shared https://youtu.be/aDfeOvUZ7Kk?feature=shared
- ukFxqnLa2sBSBf6 2y ago
  This is what I was looking for. Thanks!
paradox242 2y ago
I can tell you from first hand experience that yes, absolutely it is.
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
An anecdotal one that was first published over 20 years ago (but updated for modern-day distractions) is here: https://randsinrepose.com/archives/nadd/ https://randsinrepose.com/archives/nadd/. I'm sure it was updated anyway because it references stuff that didn't exist in 2003 yet, like Twitter, but the oldest internet archive version from 2014 seems to have the same contents. If anyone knows where the original is, do comment. But anyway, he also did a follow-up about watching films without the attention span, in 2005 already: https://randsinrepose.com/archives/movie-nadd/ https://randsinrepose.com/archives/movie-nadd/ Interestingly, he posits that the opposite is "information overload"; people who can't skim or skip things who are still exposed to too much input and break down for it. Of course, I want to believe this is a choice, you can turn off your phone and notifications, set up a system of critical notifications that cannot wait (which when you think about it is very little, or it's another person who has a problem with needing quick replies).

fxwin 2y ago

All i've really got is personal anecdotes, but i've noticed that excessive scrolling (~consuming short form/attention grabbing content) in the evening/morning correlates negatively with my ability to focus on longer, less dopamine-rewarding tasks. This usually goes away after a few days of reducing said behaviors, so it seems at least mostly temporary (the same might not be true in teenagers or younger)

nunodonato 2y ago

they watch a movie AND their instagram/tiktok feed at the same time

thaumasiotes 2y ago
Yes, I'm not so sure that they are capable of watching a movie. I tried to watch TV with my sister and failed because she spent the time looking at her phone.
Temporary_31337 2y ago
No such thing as multitasking. You just context switching frequently so any movie with any depth to the story will be hard to follow this way

indigo945 2y ago

Yes, there is. (Mind you, I'm not a psychologist, this is just from a quick online search.) There's a study from 2012 linking social media usage to reduced academic performance and a lowered attention span [1]. A recent study has shown that excessive TikTok use in particular is linked to short-term memory deterioration [2]. I assume this is a somewhat trendy field of research in psychology, so you can likely find more studies, should you want to. [1]: Paul, Baker et al (2012): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563212001665?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475... [2]: Sha, Dong (2021): https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820 https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820

yungporko 2y ago

i've met countless people who aren't capable of watching a movie, they just sit there looking at their phone the whole time then claim the movie was stupid and/or boring and that they "didn't get it". if you ask them what a good movie is, they say something they liked from before they became phone addicts because they literally haven't watched a movie since. i also personally struggle a bit with older movies (80s/early 90s) because they tend to have a slower pace and i instinctively want to start multitasking every time there's a lull in the action. i actually watched die hard for the first time last night and found it kinda slow and boring despite it being one of the most iconic action movies of all time. there may or may not be a scientific study to suggest it can happen (although i assume there is) but based on my own experiences i am 100% certain that it is happening.

KptMarchewa 2y ago
I've personally found newer slightly slower movies like Villeneuve ones are really good.
fransje26 2y ago
> [I] actually watched die hard for the first time last night and found it kinda slow Oh man! If you think that is slow, don't go further back in time... But you want a taste of slow, here is some inspiration, courtesy of "Once Upon a Time in the West": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QML28YQBvyc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QML28YQBvyc > and [I] instinctively want to start multitasking every time there's a lull in the action. That's your cue for an attention problem right there. For the fun of it, try to notice in how many other situations you might have the same tendency to look for a "multitasking" distraction.
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
I've tried watching classics like the old Lynch take on Dune or 2001, and I couldn't finish them; I don't believe it's entirely down to phones / tech-induced attention deficit, but simply due to different filmmaking styles of the time, where I presume visuals and the experience had a much higher impact on their own. As someone else metioned, Villeneuve's films echo these slow burners, but they're a bit more modernised. But, I need to make time to watch films like that, ideally on my own because in a house with family and youth with both clinically diagnosed ADHD and a chronic youtube/tiktok/gaming-with-voice-chat addiction, getting three undisturbed quiet hours to myself is difficult.

smolder 2y ago

I'm not personally aware of academic study of this (and haven't looked, admittedly,) but my experience and anecdata from others I've known says that yes it can be very affected --our attention spans are malleable and affected by our environment. When I've been going hard on (overstimulated by) low-attention span content like social media, video games, certain video content, it has a pronounced impact on my ability to focus on things longer term. The best example is reading a book. I end up having to reread sentences and paragraphs frequently as my mind wanders from what the words are conveying. It takes a while to get into the groove of following the thread of the writing. Spending some time in a less stimulating environment like going camping, practicing meditation, or just 'unplugging' seems to be restorative to that ability to focus. Other people have shared similar experiences with me many times as this subject comes up. Again, my experience, but this capacity for focus applies to many things beyond just reading a book, like tackling programming problems or having a deep and nuanced conversation, effectively communicating complex ideas and being able to receive the same.

NiloCK 2y ago

Being in the same room that a movie is displayed movie is not attending to it. See, eg, https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/cellphones-in-theatres-1.7397439 https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/cellphones-in-theatres... In any case, if watching a movie is the counterexample it is probably in the category of "damning with faint evidence". This is still passive media which carries on whether or not the watcher is attending. Reading a book for an hour or two is different, because the pages don't turn themselves. People in a position to notice changes in these capabilities have noticed them. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-eli...

fransje26 2y ago
> People in a position to notice changes in these capabilities have noticed them. You mean, you can't notice that pages of a book don't turn themselves if you don't read books? ;-)

triceratops 2y ago

Be right back, doing some research on this.

NalNezumi 2y ago

Posted a while ago on HN: https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2023/07/24/your-mystery-have-attention-spans-been-declining/ https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2023/07/24/your-mystery-have-a... A good litterature survey, easy to follow. Better than reading one or two isolated studies, since it does ask the crucial question of "well what is (and how do you measure) attention span anyway?" Less rigorous but similar conclusion in video if you prefer https://youtu.be/aDfeOvUZ7Kk?feature=shared https://youtu.be/aDfeOvUZ7Kk?feature=shared

ukFxqnLa2sBSBf6 2y ago
This is what I was looking for. Thanks!

paradox242 2y ago

I can tell you from first hand experience that yes, absolutely it is.

Cthulhu_ 2y ago

An anecdotal one that was first published over 20 years ago (but updated for modern-day distractions) is here: https://randsinrepose.com/archives/nadd/ https://randsinrepose.com/archives/nadd/. I'm sure it was updated anyway because it references stuff that didn't exist in 2003 yet, like Twitter, but the oldest internet archive version from 2014 seems to have the same contents. If anyone knows where the original is, do comment. But anyway, he also did a follow-up about watching films without the attention span, in 2005 already: https://randsinrepose.com/archives/movie-nadd/ https://randsinrepose.com/archives/movie-nadd/ Interestingly, he posits that the opposite is "information overload"; people who can't skim or skip things who are still exposed to too much input and break down for it. Of course, I want to believe this is a choice, you can turn off your phone and notifications, set up a system of critical notifications that cannot wait (which when you think about it is very little, or it's another person who has a problem with needing quick replies).