"I’ll take care of it" while glued to their phones, but less smart than their parents... first cognitive backslide in human history

[Financial News] Surrounded by smartphones and digital devices, Generation Z (Gen Z) has become the first generation in history to score lower than previous generations in academic achievement and across major cognitive abilities, according to a new analysis.

On the 7th (local time), the New York Post reported that neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath found in his research that "Gen Z performed poorly on nearly every cognitive measure, including basic attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, and general IQ."
According to a report Horvath submitted on January 15 to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Gen Z has recorded the lowest level of cognitive development since such records began in the late 1800s. Excessive exposure to screens, especially smartphones, is cited as a main driver of this decline in cognitive ability.
Horvath warned, "Even more troubling is that most of these young people are overconfident about how smart they are," adding, "The more people think they are intelligent, the less capable they actually tend to be."

Horvath pointed out, "Teenagers spend more than half of their waking hours staring at screens," and noted, "Humans are biologically programmed to learn through interaction with other people and through deep learning, not by endlessly scrolling and skimming summaries on screens."
He also explained that instead of reading books, children now learn mainly through the screens of smartphones, tablets, and laptops, which has fostered a habit of merely "skimming" information. Horvath stressed, "I am not opposed to technology itself; I support the idea that we must become more rigorous about learning," and argued that schools should limit students’ screen time and help them build habits of opening books and studying from print.
Horvath noted, "Since the late 1800s, we have measured cognitive development by generation, and until now every generation has outperformed its parents," but emphasized, "With Gen Z, that trend has broken for the first time." He added that similar patterns have been observed in at least 80 countries.
bng@fnnews.com Hee-sun Kim Reporter