Mobiles erode the sharpness of Brits’ memories

A study has brought to light the fact that British memories appear to be suffering due to the increasing use of mobile phones.

CPP, the credit card protection company which undertook the research, calls it “numerical amnesia”, and it’s due to the fact that everyone now stores important numbers in their mobile, with no need to recall them.

As the famous saying goes, use it or lose it, and UK citizens are apparently losing it.

47% of UK adults can’t remember their partner’s mobile number off by heart, the study of 2,000 people found.

61% don’t know their best friend’s number, and 45% can’t recall their parents’ mobile number.

CPP also points to an online memory test, which is used to assess the ability of a person to recall sequences of numbers. This found that 80% of those tested couldn’t recall a mobile number after a gap of just five seconds.

At least landline numbers fared a bit better, with 92% of adults able to recall their own number. Mind you, we should hope they can remember their own – only 60% could recite their parents’ number, which was only a third better than the results with mobiles.

Two thirds of those questioned were worried about losing data if their phone was lost or stolen. Only 43% back their important numbers up on paper, and only 18% back up to a computer.

CPP’s Michael Lynch commented: “Our research shows that people are so heavily reliant on their mobile phones, that they’d be lost without them. And even if not caught in an emergency situation, our research shows that four in ten victims have admitted that they’ve lost contact with friends when they’ve lost or had their phones stolen.”