Overview

This webinar examines how the current digital environment, including the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, may be reshaping the ways people attend, remember, and think. Drawing on cognitive psychology research, this presentation explores how information overload places increasing demands on attention and how digital tools can both support and weaken effortful thinking. The presentation will discuss how memory operates from sensory input and attention through to short and long-term storage, and why acquired knowledge remains central to critical thinking. It will also clarify the difference between cognitive offloading, where digital tools replace cognition, from cognitive scaffolding, where tools extend or augment cognition.

The webinar will also consider clinical presentations associated with high digital dependence. Early findings on AI reliance relevant to psychologists and other professionals will be reviewed. Finally, the webinar will translate key cognitive concepts into practical applications for psychological practice. Attendees will be gain knowledge on how to monitor adaptive and maladaptive uses of digital tools in practice. The session aims to help psychologists balance the convenience of digital tools in a way that enhances cognitive capacity, professional judgement, and meaningful therapeutic work.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Dr Carrie Thomson-Casey, will interpret the session through an Integrative mental health lens by discussing the ethical and clinical implications for psychologists who engage with AI-informed client preferences while maintaining evidence-based, person-centred, and collaborative care.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should be able to:

• Describe how attention and memory processes are affected by high-volume digital information environments.
• Differentiate between cognitive offloading and cognitive scaffolding.
• Recognise clinical presentations that may be associated with high digital dependence.
• Identify adaptive and maladaptive uses of digital tools, including AI, in psychological practice.
• Apply cognitive psychology concepts to support professional judgement within integrative mental health approaches.

Presenter(s)

Dr. Misia Temler

About the presenter(s)

Dr. Misia Temler is a Clinical Psychologist in Private Practice and a Cognitive Psychologist with a PhD in Cognitive Science from Macquarie University and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders. Her research background in autobiographical memory, eyewitness memory, and distributed cognition in digital environments informs her interest in how people think, remember, and make decisions in an age of information overload and artificial intelligence. Dr Temler is also a research affiliate and HDR supervisor at the University of Sydney. She has publications spanning memory, cognition, and technology mediated influences. She brings together clinical practice and cognitive science to explore the implications of digital tools and AI reliance for critical thinking, metacognition, and psychological practice. She has served for five years on the APS Psychology and Integrative Mental Health Interest Group committee, including the past three years as convener.

Notes

Target Audience

This event is suitable for psychologists and other mental health professionals interested in the cognitive and clinical implications of digital dependence, artificial intelligence and technology supported practice.

Please note:

• This is a Member Groups event. All communication will be sent to the registrants’ registered email address. This includes event reminders with details (such as the Zoom link) and any pre-event or post-event resources, if provided by the facilitators.
• A post-event email will be sent within two weeks of the event’s completion to each registrant’s registered email address. This email will include the CPD certificate, event-recording, and any additional resources shared during the session.

Duration of Access

This event will be recorded. The recording will be emailed to all registered within 2 weeks post event and available for viewing up to 90 days.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.