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Technology may change cognition without necessarily harming it

What is the long-term impact of technological advances on cognitive abilities? We critically examine relevant findings and argue that there is no clear evidence for detrimental lasting effects of digital technology on cognitive abilities. But we also suggest how digital technology may be changing predominant ways of cognition.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Kristen Duke for thoughtful comments on an earlier draft.

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Correspondence to Spike W. S. Lee.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Human Behaviour thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Cecutti, L., Chemero, A. & Lee, S.W.S. Technology may change cognition without necessarily harming it. Nat Hum Behav 5, 973–975 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01162-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01162-0

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