Analysis

Explore our research

Search

Filters

Analysis Type

Pillar / Project

Source

Topics

Author

Year

Digital Tools, Cognition, and Democracy: A Review of the Literature

This literature review supports a series examining the effects digital technologies have on the following cognitive processes: "Memory," "Attention," and "Reasoning." The broader report series includes three additional papers looking at some of the society-level cognitive and democratic impacts of technology, titled: "Modulating Trust," "Shortcutting Critical Thinking," and "Exploiting Emotions."

attention, cognition, DCDI, democracy, emotions, Geopolitics of Technology, memory, reasoning, social

October 27, 2022

Reasoning: How digital technologies influence decision making and judgment

This report provides a working definition of reasoning, narrowing the scope of the discussion to judgment and decision making. We identify three aspects of digital technology that exert significant impacts on reasoning: user experience design, gamification, and search engines. Examples include social media platforms, gamified platforms like Robinhood, and search engines like Google and Wikipedia. Key findings include:

cognition, DCDI, decision making, democracy, gamification, Geopolitics of Technology, judgment, reasoning, search engines, user experience design

October 27, 2022

Attention: How digital technologies influence what we notice, what we focus on, and how we learn

This report examines the impact that technology has on the cognitive function of attention. It provides a working definition of attention within a cognitive science context, including the distinction between overt and covert attention. It summarizes findings that elucidate how attention is affected by the passive and active consumption of technology.

attention, cognition, critical thinking, DCDI, democracy, emotions, gamification, Geopolitics of Technology, memory, reasoning

October 27, 2022

Memory: How digital technologies influence cognitive information storage

Memory is foundational to cognition. It enables individuals to operate with certain assumptions about truth based on prior validated beliefs. Memory informs individual decision making, reasoning, and problem solving. There are also significant societal implications rooted in memory function. Individual memories, collectively and cumulatively, inform the development of “national memory,” which in turn influences “the construction of a democratic culture and collective identity.” This report provides a working definition of memory and focuses especially on long-term memory.

bias, cognition, DCDI, democracy, Geopolitics of Technology, GPS effect, manipulation, memory, trust

October 27, 2022

Shortcutting Critical Thinking

The scale, accuracy, and speed of digital technologies make them particularly effective at activating the very emotions that influence and undermine critical thinking. Not only do digital technologies have the ability to inflame those emotions, but they often are designed to do so, as those very emotions drive engagement, use, and consumer spending.

attention, cognition, critical thinking, DCDI, democracy, emotions, Geopolitics of Technology, reasoning

October 27, 2022

Modulating Trust

Social trust – trust in other people and institutions – is critical to the DCDI problem set. But trust is not always beneficial. Although trust in technology can facilitate economic transactions, it can also diminish our capacity for skepticism. Consumers tend to prefer to use technologies that they trust, and sellers and developers of technology find more success when there is more trust in their systems. Yet trust placed too freely in technologies can also generate vulnerabilities for those same consumers–to identity theft, to addiction, to misinformation, and to fraud.

attention, cognition, DCDI, democracy, fraud, Geopolitics of Technology, misinformation, social trust, trust

October 27, 2022

Testimony: Red Alert: Countering the Cyberthreat from China

Testimony: Red Alert: Countering the Cyberthreat from China

On May 15, 2024, Chief Trust Officer Steve Kelly testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation in a hearing entitled, "Red Alert: Countering the Cyberthreat from China."

cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, China

Ransomware Task Force: Doubling Down

Progress Report, Report

Ransomware Task Force: Doubling Down

While the U.S. government and its partners made great strides in combating ransomware in 2023, attacks have only increased. Of the 48 recommendations made in the original RTF Report, our assessment remains unchanged from a year ago: only 24 have seen significant progress.

cybersecurity, Ransomware, ransom payments, incident reporting

Information Sharing in the Ransomware Payment Ecosystem: Exploring the Delta Between Best Practices and Existing Mechanisms

Information Sharing in the Ransomware Payment Ecosystem: Exploring the Delta Between Best Practices and Existing Mechanisms

IST's latest report pulls from a recent attack scenario exercise performed by the Ransomware Task Force's Payments Working Group, comparing the results to information sharing case studies including the Hive disruption operation, the Emotet botnet takedown, and the Colonial Pipeline ransom recovery.

cybersecurity, Ransomware, ransom payments, Colonial Pipeline, Emotet, Hive

Testimony: Held for Ransom: How Ransomware Endangers Our Financial System

Testimony: Held for Ransom: How Ransomware Endangers Our Financial System

On April 16, 2024, Chief Strategy Officer Megan Stifel testified before the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions for a hearing entitled, "Held for Ransom: How Ransomware Endangers Our Financial System."

Ransomware, ransom payments, financial services