The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can affect cognitive skills, intelligence and academic achievement in a positive way. Research on this subject proved that computer use can improve skills of visual intelligence such as spatial orientation, dividing attention, iconic representation (Subrahmanyam at al., 2001). At the same time not every impact of ICTs can be considered positive unambiguously.
Prensky (2001) underlines that digital natives get used to get information too fast, tend to process information in parallel and deal with more things (multitasking) at the same time. These can cause shallow information processing. They prefer visual information, figures, images to written infromation.
We can say that the digitally socialized generation (Székely, 2014) is different in their habits, in their thinking and in their cognition from the previous generation.
An empirical research was done by the authors between 1st November 2012 and 15th December 2015 at Eszterházy Károly College in Eger. The purpose of the research team was to get answer how new technologies change mental functioning, how „ICT using” influence our cognitive skills and how does student as an „adaptive system” work while changing his methods in order to adapt to nature.
We assume that the frequent use of ICTs improve certain skills such as visual perceptual skills and cause deterioration in motoric and verbal skills.
According to our hypothesis, we assume that we find difference between the three age groups (10, 14 and 18 year-old) in the habits if ICTs use, in the knowledge about ICTs and in the attitude towards ICTs because the fast developement of ICTs can effect the three age-groupes in a different way.
