Prensky’s Cognitive Styles

Prensky’s Cognitive Styles
Every parent, educator, and manager knows that "Nintendo children"--those born after 1970 and raised on video and computer games, Walkmans, the Internet, etc.--are different. Unfortunately, the Gen-X discussion has focused mainly on the youths' supposedly short attention spans and attention-deficit disorders, ignoring or underemphasizing what is perhaps the most crucial factor--that this under-30 generation thinks, and sees the world, in ways entirely different from their parents.

Below are 10 of the main cognitive style changes, which raise a number of important and difficult challenges. We have already begun to see the development of new business structures, ideas, and products that take into account under-30 employees' cognitive changes and preferences. It is likely that the full impact of these changes will not be felt until the younger generation fully comes to power, just as the movies were impacted by the coming-of-age of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. That time is not far off.

Twitch Speed vs. Conventional Speed
An important challenge for today's managers is how to reassess and speed up their assumptions around time, while still keeping sight of other key objectives, such as quality and customer relationships. They also need to create experiences that maintain the pace and exploit the facility of "twitch speed" while adding content that is important and useful. Several possible approaches include speeding things up via technology (such as by providing workers with the kinds of real-time data that financial traders use), installing faster infrastructures with fiber-optic cable and T-1 telephone lines, and creating new, MTV-style corporate videos. Re-engineering systems and activities so that things simply move faster is another.

Parallel Processing vs. Linear Processing
Much of the under-30 generation grew up doing homework while watching TV and doing almost everything while wearing a Walkman. Many of them feel much more comfortable than their predecessors doing more than one thing at once. While some argue that this limits attention to any one thing, this is not necessarily the case. The mind can actually process many tracks at once and often has quite a bit of "idle time" from its primary task that can be used to handle other things. Today you see young computer artists creating wonderful graphics while listening to music and chatting with co-workers, and young bankers having multiple conversations on the phone while reading their computer screens and e-mail.
Random Access vs. Linear Thinking
The under-30 generation is the first to experience hypertext and "clicking around," in children's computer applications, in CD-ROMs, and on the Web. This new information structure has increased their awareness and ability to make connections, has freed them from the constraint of a single path of thought, and is generally an extremely positive development. At the same time, it can be argued--with some justification--that unbridled hyperlinking may make it more difficult for these workers to follow a linear train of thought and to do some types of deep or logical thinking. "Why should I read something from beginning to end, or follow someone else's logic, when I can just 'explore the links' and create my own?" While following one's own path often leads to interesting results, understanding someone else's logic is also very important. A difficult challenge is how to create experiences that allow people to link anywhere and experience things in any order yet still communicate sequential ideas and logical thinking.


Graphics First vs. Text First
In previous generations, graphics were generally illustrations, accompanying the text and providing some kind of elucidation. For today's young people, the relationship is almost completely reversed: The role of text is to elucidate something that was first experienced as an image. Since childhood, the younger generation has been continuously exposed to television, videos, and computer games that put high-quality, highly expressive graphics in front of them with little or no accompanying text.

Connected vs. Stand-alone
While the previous generation was linked by the telephone, that system is synchronous (i.e., both people have to be there). The under-30 generation has been raised with, and become accustomed to, the asynchronous worldwide communication of e-mail, broadcast messages, bulletin boards, usegroups, chat, and Internet searches. As a result of this "connected" experience, young people tend to think differently about how to get information and solve problems. For example, if I need a question answered I'll typically call the three or four people I think might know. It might take me time to get to them, and take them a while to get back to me.

Active vs. Passive
One of the most striking cross-generational differences can be observed when people are given new software to learn. Older folks almost invariably want to read the manual first, afraid they won't understand how the software works or that they'll break something. Nintendo-generation workers rarely even think of reading a manual. "RTFM" ("read the [expletive] manual") is a term of derision. They'll just play with the software, hitting every key if necessary, until they figure it out. If they can't, they assume the problem is with the software, not with them. This attitude is almost certainly a direct result of growing up with Sega, Nintendo, and other video games where each level and monster had to be figured out by trial and error, and each trial click might lead to a hidden surprise or "Easter egg."
Play vs. Work
While often derided in the press as intellectual slackers, in reality the under-30s are very much an intellectual problem-solving generation. Many types of logic, challenging puzzles, spatial relationships, and other complex thinking tasks are built into the computer and video games they enjoy. Their spending on such electronic games has surpassed spending on movies; PCs are now used more for running entertainment software than for any other application, including word processing. While some have argued that play and games are simply preparation for work, I think that, for today's younger generation, play is work, and work is increasingly seen in terms of games and game play. The fact that the real-life games are very serious does not make the player's approach any different than the way she approaches software. Achievement, winning, and beating competitors are all very much part of the ethic and process.
Payoff vs. Patience
One of the biggest lessons the under-30 generation learned from growing up with video games is that if you put in the hours and master the game, you will be rewarded: with the next level, with a win, with a place on the high scorers' list. What you do determines what you get, and what you get is worth the effort you put in. Computers excel at giving feedback, and the payoff for any action is typically extremely clear. A key outcome of this is a huge intolerance on the part of the younger generation for things that don't pay off at the level expected.

Fantasy vs. Reality
To me, one of the most striking aspects of the under-30 generation is the degree to which fantasy elements, both from the past (medieval, Dungeons & Dragons imagery), and the future (Star Wars, Star Trek, and other science-fiction imagery) pervade their lives. While young people have always indulged in fantasy play, the computer has by its nature made this easier and more realistic, in many ways bringing it to life. Sociologists might say that some or all of this is due to a desire to escape the realities of today's life: fewer good jobs, more alienation, and a degrading environment. Whatever its cause, the fantasy phenomenon has certainly been encouraged by technology. Network technology allows people not only to create their new fantasy identities but to express them to others and join in fantasy communities. The huge interest in chat rooms and in individual home pages is, at least in part, another manifestation of this.

Technology as Friend vs. Technology as Foe
Finally, growing up with computers has engendered an overall attitude toward technology in the minds of the younger generation that is very different from that of their predecessors. To the older generation, technology is generally something to be feared, tolerated, or at best harnessed to one's purposes. No matter how easy we make it, this generation doesn't want to program its VCRs or even, for the most part, surf the Net (though there are, of course exceptions, such as the Internet's becoming a useful way for the retired generation to stay connected and productively use their leisure time).