Psychologist: Facebook Makes You Smarter

The next time your mom gives you a hard time about Facebooking the night away instead of doing your homework, tell her this: Using the popular social networking site can actually make you smarter, at least according to psychologist Tracy Alloway (as reported by The Telegraph, based in the U.K.).

No, she isn't Facebook's company shrink.

And she's not saying Facebook will make you a well-rounded, critically thinking genius, but Alloway says the site enhances what is referred to as "working memory," which involves the ability to both remember and use information. To use an example given in the Telegraph article, a job candidate at an interview will use working memory to match answers to questions in a way that will most impress the interviewer.

Alloway has studied working memory extensively and believes it is more important than IQ (intelligence quotient) in determining happiness and success. Mental exercises that test your ability to access and use stored information, including war-themed video games, also enhance working memory, she says, careful not to overlook the anti-social aspect of shoot-em-up video game bloodbaths (as quoted by the Telegraph):

''I'm not saying they're good for your socialization skills, but they do make you use your working memory. You're keeping track of past actions and mapping the actions you're going to take.''

And while Facebook helps improve working memory, according to the psychologist, oversimplified communication platforms such as Twitter and text messaging have the opposite effect. The reason? Short chunks of information transmitted over such networks already are succinct and thus don't require much mental processing, she says.

I don't know about all of this. I certainly don't feel much brighter after completing the "Which 'Three's Company' character are you?" quiz.

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