Studies point to declining attention, maths and problem-solving skills in the US and Europe
Data from several institutions, compiled by the Financial Times, show that attention span, numeracy and problem-solving ability are worsening among Americans and Europeans. The decline may have begun as early as 2012, and smartphones are named as a possible cause.
According to the outlet Your Tango, the results of several studies indicate that people in the United States and Europe are showing weaker attention spans, logical reasoning and problem-solving ability. The data, gathered by different institutions, have been compiled by the newspaper Financial Times and cover a range of measures of intellectual ability rather than a single indicator.
Not only children and young people
Numeracy is also declining, meaning the ability to understand numbers and mathematical concepts and work with them. The trend is not limited to students: data from the adult skills assessment programme of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that results are getting worse across different age groups.
OECD data indicate that the share of people worldwide who cannot use mathematical reasoning to analyse and judge the validity of claims has risen by 25%. In the US the figure reaches 35%. High school graduates aged 18 are also reporting difficulty concentrating more often, and their number has grown after several decades of relative stability.
Not only a pandemic effect
The drop in educational attainment is often blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption to schooling, but that does not explain everything. The decline may have started as early as 2012, and some assessments show that indicators fell more between 2012 and 2018 than during and after the pandemic.
Smartphones as a possible cause
Experts see the widespread use of smartphones and the way people consume digital content as one possible cause. Reading skills have deteriorated markedly in recent years, especially among young people. Passive consumption, such as endlessly scrolling social media posts, is compared to slot machines that encourage people to keep playing. Links are also being discussed with worsening mental health and a literacy crisis among children and young people in the US, as well as with public and government attitudes towards education and teachers.
If these trends continue, there is no reason to expect the problem to resolve itself. However, the data reflect changes in specific cognitive and educational skills and do not in themselves prove that overall human intelligence is declining at the same rate worldwide.
