# Review: What if Learning Is Harder When You’re Lonely?  ## Metadata - Author: [[Wonkhe]] - Full Title: What if Learning Is Harder When You’re Lonely? - Category: #Source/articles - URL: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/what-if-learning-is-harder-when-youre-lonely/ ## Highlights - So the pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to test cognitive ability. In [this study](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.3821)[^1] of 350 Scottish adults (some of which were shielding, all of which experienced a slow easing of lockdown last summer) decision making, selective attention, learning ability, working memory and time estimation were all tested at various points in the lockdown, with fascinating results. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkm190f1ghrmc3wdxm3fdbk2)) - Even when measuring and then controlling for negative mood, ==all of the indicators improved as lockdown restrictions eased==. And that wasn’t just about the passage of time – on the decision making task, for example, those that were shielding didn’t show improvement until shielding was “paused” for them last summer. And in the memory test, improvements were greatest for solitary participants in later weeks, when visits inside the home started to be allowed. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkm192pnfh9c7340xcsybkyz)) - Things got a bit more complicated on time perception. When isolated, participants underestimated time‐elapsed, but then overestimated time‐elapsed when restrictions were most relaxed, which apparently is also something that’s been seen in astronauts. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkm19356k1nv2mbyh19qz629)) - And no, online Zoom socialising won’t fix it. ==Researchers say that constriction of life‐space (“daily extent of movement throughout the environment”) is linked to increased risk of cognitive impairment==, and strategies to alleviate cognitive decline shouldn’t focus exclusively on encouraging online social interaction, “as this does not expand life‐space”. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkm197s5eseaa1wsqdcpw97h)) [^1]: Ingram J,  Hand CJ,  Maciejewski G.  Social isolation during COVID-19 lockdown impairs cognitive function. _Appl Cognit Psychol_.  2021; 35: 935–947. [https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3821](https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3821)