This is an article I got from the Health Care Advisory Board today. it addresses an issue I have thought about in the past.
Memory block: Internet use affects how people retain information
07/15/2011
The widespread use of Internet searches and online databases has influenced how individuals retain information, according to a new study in Science that suggests that people increasingly rely on their computers as an "external memory."
For the study, Harvard University researchers and colleagues conducted four separate memory experiments to determine whether people were more likely to remember data that is widely available on the Internet. For example, in one experiment, subjects were asked to type 40 pieces of trivia into a search engine. Half of the participants believed the computer would retain the search information, while the other half believed their search data would be erased.
The findings showed that the participants were more likely to recall information if they thought they could not find it later. "Participants did not make the effort to remember when they thought they could later look up the trivia statement they had read," according to the authors.
Another experiment examined transactive memory, in which individuals depend on other people and reference material to retain information. For the experiment, participants were asked to remember a trivia statement and where it was saved on a computer. The results showed that people were more likely to remember where they stored the information than the information itself.
"We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems," the authors wrote, adding, "We have become dependent on them to the same degree we are on all the knowledge we gain from our friends and coworkers—and lose if they are out of touch" (Cohen, New York Times, 7/14; Lopatto, Bloomberg, 7/14).
Memory block: Internet use affects how people retain information
07/15/2011
The widespread use of Internet searches and online databases has influenced how individuals retain information, according to a new study in Science that suggests that people increasingly rely on their computers as an "external memory."
For the study, Harvard University researchers and colleagues conducted four separate memory experiments to determine whether people were more likely to remember data that is widely available on the Internet. For example, in one experiment, subjects were asked to type 40 pieces of trivia into a search engine. Half of the participants believed the computer would retain the search information, while the other half believed their search data would be erased.
The findings showed that the participants were more likely to recall information if they thought they could not find it later. "Participants did not make the effort to remember when they thought they could later look up the trivia statement they had read," according to the authors.
Another experiment examined transactive memory, in which individuals depend on other people and reference material to retain information. For the experiment, participants were asked to remember a trivia statement and where it was saved on a computer. The results showed that people were more likely to remember where they stored the information than the information itself.
"We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems," the authors wrote, adding, "We have become dependent on them to the same degree we are on all the knowledge we gain from our friends and coworkers—and lose if they are out of touch" (Cohen, New York Times, 7/14; Lopatto, Bloomberg, 7/14).
