‘Google effect’ leads to changes in memory
New study reveals that the human brain will forget facts that are easily found online
From staff and wire reports
Read more by staff and wire services reports
A new study suggests people will forget information they know they can locate at a later date.
New research reveals that if people expect something to remain easily available, they are more likely to remember where they found the information than the information itself–but if they don’t think it will be easy to find again, they are more likely to remember the information. The findings could have huge implications for teaching and learning as instruction moves from traditional classroom stereotypes, such as memorization, to a more collaborative, mobile learning experience.
Columbia University researcher and psychologist Betsy Sparrow was watching the 1944 movie Gaslight one evening and wondered who the actress was playing the maid. So she reached for her computer and Googled it.
That set Sparrow to thinking: before the internet, how did we answer these questions?
The internet has taken a major place in the circle of friends where people look for information, she concluded in “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips,” which appeared in the July 14 online edition of the journal Science.
With colleagues Jenny Liu of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Daniel M. Wegner of Harvard University, Sparrow explains that the internet has become a primary form of what psychologists call transactive memory–recollections that are external to us but that we know when and how to access.
The researchers say the study is the first of its kind into the impact of search engines on human memory organization.
ctdahle
July 21, 2011 at 11:57 am
Yet we continue to judge the performance of students and their teachers on the basis of standardized tests that favor rote memorization of rules and facts over the ability to apply knowledge in unique situations.
ctdahle
July 21, 2011 at 11:57 am
Yet we continue to judge the performance of students and their teachers on the basis of standardized tests that favor rote memorization of rules and facts over the ability to apply knowledge in unique situations.
jepederson653
July 21, 2011 at 12:16 pm
I was fond of one of my middle school teachers, who said it was more important to know where to find facts than to know them. Although I developed robust research skills and value my smart phone’s access to Google more than any of its other features, I eventually realized that I couldn’t think about the implications of facts if those facts remained outside my head.
Just as there is are teachable moments in the classroom when it’s time to step away from the plan and seize the possibilities of the moment with whatever tools are at hand, there are comparable moments in life when the content of our minds is all that is at hand.
It will be interesting to learn whether future research shows the way toward better retaining the information we get from memorable sources.
jepederson653
July 21, 2011 at 12:16 pm
I was fond of one of my middle school teachers, who said it was more important to know where to find facts than to know them. Although I developed robust research skills and value my smart phone’s access to Google more than any of its other features, I eventually realized that I couldn’t think about the implications of facts if those facts remained outside my head.
Just as there is are teachable moments in the classroom when it’s time to step away from the plan and seize the possibilities of the moment with whatever tools are at hand, there are comparable moments in life when the content of our minds is all that is at hand.
It will be interesting to learn whether future research shows the way toward better retaining the information we get from memorable sources.
hlord3
July 21, 2011 at 1:46 pm
We memorize facts/processes that we use frequently; but I teach my chem students to learn where to find information that they don’t use frequently, and how to apply it. The latter is the hardest part ….recognizing what info is needed and how to apply it.
hlord3
July 21, 2011 at 1:46 pm
We memorize facts/processes that we use frequently; but I teach my chem students to learn where to find information that they don’t use frequently, and how to apply it. The latter is the hardest part ….recognizing what info is needed and how to apply it.
cconner
July 25, 2011 at 3:02 pm
The study claims that people are more likely to remember something if they know it is not easily retrievable from an external source. Is this a matter of memory or the decision whether or not to memorize?
Could it not be said that people are more likely to commit something to memory (both by making a conscious choice and expending effort to do so) if they determine that such effort is necessary and/or worthwhile?
cconner
July 25, 2011 at 3:02 pm
The study claims that people are more likely to remember something if they know it is not easily retrievable from an external source. Is this a matter of memory or the decision whether or not to memorize?
Could it not be said that people are more likely to commit something to memory (both by making a conscious choice and expending effort to do so) if they determine that such effort is necessary and/or worthwhile?
ccmcgovern
July 25, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I find it interesting that the methodology tested recall of trivea… matters or things that are very unimportant, inconsequential, or nonessential; trifles; trivialities… This fact is perhaps enough to help me forget this study!
ccmcgovern
July 25, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I find it interesting that the methodology tested recall of trivea… matters or things that are very unimportant, inconsequential, or nonessential; trifles; trivialities… This fact is perhaps enough to help me forget this study!