Goldfish span

A survey conducted by Microsoft to determine the impact of mobile phones and other pocket-sized devices has found that users’ ability to multitask has increased.

However, teenagers are so obsessed with such devices that their attention span has been dramatically reduced – something that teachers and college lecturers already suspected.

By the turn of the century it was 12 seconds but today it is just eight and lower than that of a goldfish (nine), as anyone who has overheard a teenager on her mobile in a bus will confirm.

(Dr) John Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews