Science
Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips
Key Takeaway
Four experiments found that expecting future access reduced memory for information itself but improved memory for where it could be found, supporting a transactive-memory account of Internet use.
AI-generated HIE assessmentStudy Design
multi experiment study
title and abstract
What the Study Found
Four experiments examined how expecting future access to information changes memory. Participants were less likely to remember information they believed would remain available and were better at remembering where it could be found. The findings support a transactive-memory interpretation of Internet search, while the laboratory tasks and early search environment limit direct generalization to current AI systems.
Original paper recordEvidence Strength
Evidence strengths
- Four experiments
- Direct tests of transactive memory
Limitations
- Laboratory tasks
- Early Internet-search context
What This Does Not Prove
This record does not establish effects beyond the population, tasks, duration, and methods described by the paper. It should not be read as a universal causal claim.
HIE Interpretation
Influential experimental evidence that expected digital access changes what people remember.
AI-generated HIE assessment · AI assessment confidence 93Related Topics
- Memory
- Learning
- Human-AI Interaction
Connected Claims
- Supports
Expected access to external digital information changes memory strategy, reducing memory for content while preserving where it can be found.
Participants remembered less content when future access was expected and remembered its location better.
- Scientific evidence strength
- 92
- AI relationship confidence
- 93
- Source / review level
- Abstract reviewed
- Human review
- No human review
- Provenance
- codex-research-curation · initial-curation-v1
Original Source
DOI 10.1126/science.1207745 ↗