A closer look at knowledge acquisition in the digital era

Project: Research

Project Details

Description

The digital revolution of the last 25 years has changed the way we learn. Learning from computer screens, tablets, and phones alters the very nature of information acquisition, affecting brain processes of perception, attention, and memory. Understanding knowledge acquisition in the digital era thus represents a grand challenge for the cognitive neuroscience of learning. However, such research is typically conducted under restricted laboratory conditions, not allowing the learners to engage in natural viewing behaviors, which is far away from how they would interact with multimodal digital environments in real life. In the present project, we will identify the neurocognitive mechanisms that promote learning in naturalistic, multimodal digital tasks that do not restrict visual behavior. We will capitalize on recent advances in coregistration of eye-tracking and electroencephalography (EEG) together with state-of-the art machine learning methods of multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). Our research team has unique expertise in conducting studies on learning and memory with these advanced research techniques and on how to apply them in contexts of multimodal digital media. This will allow us to uncover the neural mechanisms of learning in free-viewing exploration of multimodal digital environments, and to identify how the learning process is affected by critical factors, such as multitasking, perceptual complexity, cognitive demands and external distractions. In addition, we will develop novel approaches to adapt and improve the learning process with enhanced neurofeedback training, which will be informed by data from gaze dependent EEG-activity that is predictive of specific learning outcomes. Our innovative approach will address questions at the forefront of cognitive neuroscience of learning and significantly expand the current understanding of information acquisition in the digital era, with direct implications for education in schools and academia.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date2023/01/012027/12/31

Funding

  • Stiftelsen Marcus och Amalia Wallenbergs Minnesfond