Effects of Divided Attention on Working and Long-Term Memory

An article that appeared in JASS, issue 2018In today’s classroom, students commonly watch videos, play games, or browse the internet while completing homework or participating in class. With the increasing use of technology in all aspects of our life, research into the effects of multitasking has increased in relevance. We aimed to evaluate whether distractions would impact working and long-term memory and to what extent. We hypothesized that visual and cognitive distraction would decrease the encoding of working memory and subsequent consolidation of long term memory directly and indirectly via inducing stress. Participants were assigned to one of two groups: a control group with no distractions or a treatment group exposed to a distraction. Both groups listened to a list of selected phrases and took a quiz at the end of the recording to evaluate their recognition of those phrases. This was done to assess the effects of distractions on working memory. Participants came back a week after their initial testing to assess their long-term memory with a similar quiz. Heart rate, respiration rate, and electrodermal activity were measured to evaluate stress. Results showed a difference in the week one quiz between the control and treatment group (p-value of 0.0002) and between quiz two of the control vs. treatment (p-value of 0.0002). These results suggest that students who use technology while studying or in class do significantly worse on multiple choice quizzes. All other physiological measures comparing treatment vs. control were not significant (p-value of 0.50, p-value of 0.71, and p-value of 0.36). Future studies can be enhanced by increasing the number of participants and investigating the effects of other sensory distractions on working and long-term memory

The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Data Capture Methodology in Pediatric Cancer Patients Treated with Targeted Agents and Immunotherapies

As childhood cancer treatments have improved to include new and innovative agents, the need for more advanced monitoring of their long-term effects and related research has increased. This has resulted in a need for evidence-based research methodologies for the longitudinal care of childhood cancer patients treated with targeted agents and immunotherapies. The rationale for this pilot study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a data capture methodology for pediatric, adolescent, and young adult cancer patients treated with targeted agents and immunotherapy as there is little research to inform this delivery of care. Data were collected from thirty-two patients and two providers for descriptive statistics and thematic analyses. Feasibility was characterized by expected participant attrition. Key drivers of acceptability were (1) providers’ language and clarity of communication and (2) convenient participation requirements. Long-term follow-up research practices developed with input from key stakeholders, including patients, caregivers, and providers, can lead to acceptable and feasible research protocols that optimize successful participant recruitment. These evidence-based research practices can result in high participant satisfaction and can be implemented as program development initiatives across centers caring for childhood cancer survivors