NUMERICOG

Impact of digital technology on the cognition and the brain

Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Project (2017-2023)

Abstract

The goal of the NUMERICOG project was to increase our understanding of the impact of digital technology on our cognition and brain through three main questions. First, as digital technology can be viewed as a partner, the question is whether we communicate with it as with any "social" partner. Second, digital technology is often thought as being the cause of specific behavior such as multitasking. But is it really the cause or does it merely reflect if not exacerbate our cognitive personality? Third, digital technology allows to support some of our cognitive functions (ex: attention, memory). The question is whether its use impacts the performance of these functions.

Project team

François Osiurak* (PI), Emanuelle Reynaud*, Jordan Navarro*, Richard Palluel-Germain**, & Guillaume Vallet***

*Université Lyon 2, Lyon, France

**Université Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France

***Université Clermont-Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France

Other members: Giovanni Federico, Vivien Gaujoux, Jérémy Virgo, & Boris Alexandre

Publications linked to this project

Bluet, A., Reynaud, E., Federico, G., Bryche, C., Lesourd, M., Fournel, A., Lamberton, F., Ibarrola, D., Rossetti, Y., & Osiurak, F. (2025). The technical-reasoning network is recruited when people observe others make or teach how to make tools: An fMRI study. iScience, 28, 111870.
Federico, G., Lesourd, M., Fournel, A., Bluet, A., Bryche, C., Metaireau, M., Baldi, D., Brandimonte, M. A., Soricelli, A., Rosetti, Y., & Osiurak, F. (2025). Two distinct neural pathways for mechanical versus digital technology. NeuroImage, 305, 120971.
Gaujoux, V., Reynaud, E., & Osiurak, F. (2025). Media multitasking, interference management under uncertainty and fluid intelligence: Indicators of performance and flexibility under chosen vs forced task interference. Psychology of Popular Media, 14, 165-175.
Virgo, J., Tarpin-Bernard, F., De Chalvron, S., Reynaud, E., Fruitet, J., Palluel-Germain, R., Vallet, G. T., & Osiurak, F. (2023). Échelle de cognition numérique (NUMERICOG). Revue Européenne de Psychologie Appliquée, 73, 100873.
Gaujoux, V., Reynaud, E., Palluel-Germain, R., Vallet, G., Navarro, J., & Osiurak, F. (2023). Multitasking numérique et cognition : Effets de la consommation des médias sur l’organisation et la performance à des tâches non-numériques. L’Année Psychologique, 123, 63-89.
Gaujoux, V., Osiurak, F., & Reynaud, E. (2022). Spontaneous organization in task switching reflects self-reported polychronicity and media multitasking tendency. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences, 3, 100085.
Osiurak, F., Reynaud, E., & Navarro, J. (2022). Impact of intrinsic cognitive and metacognitive beliefs on tool-use performance. American Journal of Psychology, 135, 59-68.
Gray, W. D., Osiurak, F., & Heersmink, R. (2021). Editors’ introduction to Tasks, Tools, & Techniques. Topics in Cognitive Science, 13, 540-547.
Osiurak, F., Griffon, P., Gaujoux, V., Reynaud, E., & Navarro, J. (2021). The Toolman effect: Preexisting non-tool-use experience improves subsequent tool-use performance. Acta Psychologica, 220, 103389.
Virgo, J., Pillon, J., Navarro, J., Reynaud, E., & Osiurak, F. (2017). Are you sure you’re faster when using a cognitive tool? American Journal of Psychology, 130, 493-503.

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