I can only speak for myself, and am not a teen, but I can tell you I used to be able to, but can no longer: hear a person's phone number once and memorize it, remember 4-5 directional turns without writing it down, watch a 2 hour movie I'm not enthralled with, stare at traffic or people walking by and not be upset I'm wasting my time.
I think it's more the access to knowledge and productivity that has changed our society's concept of what needs to be remembered or what we should spend our thought on, than it is a generational neuro-difference.
No caffeine, work out, get outside around sundown, take like half a NyQuil dose at 10pm, read in bed.