Cognitive Overload From Digital Media Exposure as a Predictor of Attentional Lapses and Decision Fatigue

Abstract

The digital media are rapidly growing, which significantly changes the modern cognitive space, exposing the individual to endless streams of information, the need to multitask, and a high number of attentional disruptions. Although digital technologies have improved the accessibility and efficiency, the uncontrolled and overexposure in the digital realm has been linked to cognitive strain. The cognitive overload, which is the condition when the demands on information-processing surpass the limited resources of a system of the working memory and executive control (Sweller, 1988), is central to this phenomenon. The current paper reviews cognitive overload caused by exposure to digital media as a significant indicator of attentional failure and decision fatigue. Based on the Cognitive Load Theory and executive attention theories, resource depletion theories, the paper applies theoretical and empirical literature to explain how chronic digital cognitive overload impairs sustained attention and decreases resources available to decision-making (Baumeister et al., 1998; Smallwood and Schooler, 2015). It has been hypothesized that ongoing mental overload deteriorates the attentional control resulting in the common momentary failures in attention and, consequently, contributing to the increased mental fatigue and poor decision quality (Ralph et al., 2020). This article offers a comprehensive conceptual platform and background of subsequent quantitative study and significant implication to psychological wellbeing, cognitive efficiency, and digital self-regulation in the digital era by incorporating both the attentional and decision-making outcomes in one framework.