The Fingertip Effect: How Information-Processing Technology Shapes Thinking.

Perkins, D. N. (1985). The fingertip effect: how information-processing technology shapes thinking. Educational Researcher, 14, 11-17, http://edr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/7/11, DOI: 10.3102/0013189X014007011


Summary/Analysis

As the title suggests the article discusses how the brain processes various types of information while using technological devices. The author focuses on the aspects of hand written information versus the introduction of word processing. He discusses how the thinking process is affected very differently between the two approaches. In conjunction the text goes on to explore the effects of how technology, particularly programming languages (the writing language of computers), may or may not affect critical and cognitive thinking. The piece proposes that that the brain will adapt to various uses of technology and change in certain basic ways. The author goes on to compare the adaptation of literacy in print and how society reacted to it years ago to how society reacts to technology today.

The thought comes across that we all still need the basic reading and writing skills before moving on to higher levels of thinking. For example if one does not know how to communicate well or has very limited literacy skills he or she will not advance in the area through technological resources alone. I would have to agree on this level that if we do not acquire basic learning and thinking skills it is impossible to advance through technology alone, with maybe exception to speech impediment software, medical conditions, etc.

The article had some valid points about technology and the affects on the thought process. Yet I thought the article was outdated at this time. I also would have liked to read more concrete research facts and focus group studies to back up the author’s ideas. Overall the text contained some interesting facts and thoughts but not enough evidence to support the main idea.

Resources/Quotes

“This study showed that when factors such as composing time, topic, and composing procedures are held constant, sustained change in revising strategy depends on instruction (i.e. by the prompting program) more than on a writing instrument like the word processing program that could facilitate revising. It also takes more than a school year, even with typing instruction, for junior high school students to become as fluent with the computer as they are with pen. The evidence for this conclusion is that students' texts on the computer include fewer words than those in pen, and these texts on the computer receive lower holistic quality ratings” (12-13).


“For what such "data" are worth, it seems that students have trouble coming up with really interesting questions to ask of the data base” (13).