We use our phones to think for us, so we want to assume they can also make us smarter, get in shape, and even cure psychological problems. The truth is, very few apps are actually helping you. The following six have been scientifically proven NOT to work.
source: phonesreview
1. Lumosity Doesn’t Train Your Brain: You Just Get Better At The Game
This popular app promises to train your brain with the science of neuroplasticity. The rise in popularity of Lumosity is directly attributed to copious television advertising, and phantasmagorical claims which make all smartphone users actually believe that they are only one app download away from achieving true genius.
source: Lumosity
“In recent years, brain training has become a multimillion-pound business with companies such as Jungle Memory, Nintendo and Cognifit developing a wide range of user-friendly neuroscientific puzzles for the average punter. Lumosity itself has grown by 150 percent year-on-year since its launch in 2005 and now reaches more than 35 million people worldwide. In January alone, the company’s mobile app was downloaded nearly 50,000 times a day and its revenue hit $24 million.”
Source: Japantimes
A 2008 study by the psychologist Susanne Jaeggi found that memory training increased intelligence and implied that a person could boost their IQ by a full point per hour of training. However, when a group of psychologists working at Georgia Tech set out to replicate her findings with tougher controls, there was no evidence for a rise in intelligence.
Rather than improving your actual intelligence, research shows that users simply become better at the game. It’s simple logic. If you play Angry Birds, you will get better at Angry Birds; you do not become an aviary expert.
2. Meditation and Hypnosis Apps Don’t Work Either
If you can avoid the temptation to spend hours on more insidious apps, meditation apps allow its users to practice the healing tradition of meditation anywhere with the convenience of a smartphone. However, these apps are still relatively new and have insufficient scientific evidence of actually working.
source: Facebook
“Apps have the potential to make hypnosis interventions more available and accessible to the public. However, there has been no review of the quality or content of these hypnosis apps. Additionally, little is known about the types of hypnosis apps that are available, their purpose, the features they contain and the degrees to which the available hypnosis apps incorporate evidence-based practices.”
Source: Psychologytoday
3. Fitness Apps Don’t Make You Fit
Fitness apps were designed so that anyone with a smartphone could have access to a workout regimen they could actually stick to.
“Last year, MyFitnessPal pulled in 40 million users, but the report from the IMS institute claims that its effectiveness did not meet its popularity. In fact, they point out that very few studies show that calorie-counting apps are effective. Similar findings were echoed in a study by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in which they compared 30 popular weight-loss apps with traditional weight-loss strategies.
The team found 25% or fewer lifestyle-based for weight loss – such as portion control and identifying reasons behind overeating – were incorporated in 28 of the apps, meaning they were likely to be ineffective for weight loss.”
Source: Medicalnewstoday
“On iTunes alone, there are more than 1,500 fitness software applications or “apps” from which to choose. In 2011, nearly 10 percent of cell phone users downloaded at least one of them to help track or their health, according to a 2011 Pew Research Center Internet survey.”
Source: ABCNews
The apps are out there. But can they really train your brain with the discipline you need to get fit? Of course not.
4. A Pretend Cure for PTSD
The Positive Activity Jackpot application was developed by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, (yes, that’s a thing). The app was released by the US Department of defense. Its purpose is to treat soldiers suffering with debilitating PTSD. The application is based on a 1974 theory on depression developed based on Lewinsohn’s reinforcement theory of depression.
According to the clinician’s guide on the application, the app was not designed to treat any condition, rather than serve as a useful tool for a patient.
source: Positive Activity Jackpot
“While PES is a common therapy tool, the current application, Positive Activity Jackpot (PAJ), does not require clinical training or assistance to use and is not meant as a standalone treatment. This app might be used in conjunction with clinical care although research of its effectiveness is still pending. Therefore, this guide offers healthcare providers assistance using the app, if they believe it would be valuable in conjunction with standard care.”
Source: t2health
So really, there is no evidence that it works but the US Department of Defense is selling this slot machine game to patients with a serious health problem. When an average of 1 in 3 troops return home from war with PTSD, and a reported 40% of those troops actually seek treatment, is it really ethical to try to torture these people with an imaginary cure available for download in the iTunes app store?
5. Health Apps Don’t Work Either
Why rely on expensive insurance or doctors visits when a virtual doctor is at your fingertips? Well, you may be surprised to know that health apps are filled with empty promises and false science.
Aside from your standard calorie counters, other apps promise make other promises claiming to treat debilitating medical conditions.
“Last year, a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA, questioned the accuracy of four health apps that claim to detect skin cancer. Using photos of 188 skin lesions – 60 diagnosed as melanoma and 128 diagnosed as benign – the researchers tested three apps that use algorithms to determine the likelihood of cancer, while the fourth sends images of skin lesions to a dermatologist for assessment.
The team found that even the most accurate of the apps that used algorithms missed 18 of the 60 lesions diagnosed as melanoma and deemed them low-risk for cancer. Commenting on these findings, Dr. Darrell Rigel, of the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, NY, told ABC News:
“It is very concerning that these apps are used for diagnosis by patients, as it could lead to delay in diagnosis of melanoma, the cancer which is perhaps the most critical in early diagnosis being important for survival.”
Source: MedicalNewsToday
6. Even Online Dating Apps Fail Miserably At Finding You Love
A new study contradicts popular beliefs and improbable statistics shouted at us by our commercial advertisers. Dating apps irrefutably fail at their intended purpose.
“Online dating might give you something, but it’s probably not a soul mate.
Most sites rely on what’s called an “exclusive process”—they use an algorithm to find romantic matches based variables,from interests to fetishes. But now a team of psychologists from five universities has performed a systematic review. And they say that most claims for the power of the “exclusive process” don’t pan out. Their report is in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.”
Source: Scientific American
