The Cognitive Effect of Information Outsourcing

On February 11, 2025, Wilson College held the first spring Common Hour for the 2024-25 with a thought-provoking presentation by Brittany Harman, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology. The event spotlighted Harman’s new research on the impact of technology on memory. Her talk, titled “‘I Can Always Just Google It Later:’ Is Digital Amnesia a Credible Threat to Learning and Memory?”, delved into the cognitive consequences of our growing reliance on digital tools.

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Harman introduced the concept of digital amnesia, also known as the “Google effect,” or the tendency to forget information that is readily accessible online. This phenomenon, she explained, is a modern manifestation of what ancient philosophers like Socrates once feared: that externalizing memory could have an undesirable impact on cognitive abilities.

“Different types of technological innovations are typically viewed, at least initially, as a cause for concern,” Harman noted. “In the digital age, this has a direct impact on how we experience information, how we think about information, how we use it, and then how we remember it.” 

One of the foundational studies in this area is the photo-taking impairment effect, first demonstrated by psychologist Linda Henkel, Ph.D., in 2014. Participants in Henkel’s study were less likely to remember artworks they photographed in a museum compared to those they simply observed. 

Another important study was conducted by Betsy Sparrow and colleagues in 2011, who investigated digital amnesia and coined the term “Google effect.” Their research found that participants were less likely to remember information when they were told it would be stored online—even when explicitly instructed to try to remember it.

Building on the work of Henkel and Sparrow, Harman is exploring how digital amnesia manifests in both laboratory and real-world educational settings. Her research focuses on three key areas: 

1. Controlled environment: Can the Google effect reliably be produced in a controlled lab setting where some participants are told they will have future access to the material?
2. Classroom application: Can digital amnesia be observed in a college classroom when students expect lecture materials to be posted online?
3. Reduced motivation: Is the Google effect a result of reduced motivation to engage in deeper cognitive processing when digital access is assumed? 

Harman emphasized the broader implications of her work, particularly in educational contexts when memory is outsourced to technology—whether through photos, search engines, or cloud storage—there is often a disengagement from the deeper cognitive processes that support learning.

“We need to understand how digital convenience shapes our mental habits,” she said. “If students believe they don’t need to remember information because it’s always accessible, they may not develop the foundational knowledge necessary for deeper learning.”

Ultimately, Harman hopes her findings will inform better educational practices and policies. By understanding how digital tools influence attention, memory, and learning, educators can make more informed decisions about how and when to integrate technology into the classroom.