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memory
Knowing where to find information makes us forget it.
In a 2011 experiment, participants who believed a computer would save their typed facts remembered about a third less of the information compared to those who thought it would be erased.
The 2011 study by Betsy Sparrow et al. showed a drop from a 29% recall rate (erased group) to 19% (saved group), representing a ~34% relative decrease, not 40%. Additionally, the effect has failed to replicate in multiple preregistered replication attempts.
We do not store the answer; we store the map to the answer.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Betsy Sparrow et al., 2011, Science (Google Effects on Memory)
- What the check found
- The original study reported a drop from ~29% to ~19% recall (a ~34% relative reduction, not 40%). Furthermore, this finding has famously failed to replicate in subsequent preregistered studies.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.