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Human memory adapts to the internet
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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US experts have found out that people use the Internet and computers as their own memory. The study was conducted by a group of scientists led by Betsy Sparrow from Columbia University.
The study consisted of several series of experiments involving volunteers. In the first experiment, they were asked general knowledge questions. After that, the participants were asked to take a modification of the Stroop test*. The scientists showed the subjects various words printed in red or blue font and measured the time it took to name the color of the font.
As the experiment showed, it took the volunteers a little longer to name the color of words related to the Internet (names of search engines). The growing reaction time to such words indirectly indicates that the participant was thinking about "search engines" when he had difficulty naming the color during the knowledge test.
In another experiment, subjects were asked to read and type various phrases. Half of them were told that the file with the typed text would be saved in a specific folder. The other half were told that the information would be deleted. After this, the subjects were asked to take a memory test. The researchers found that in the first group, the subjects remembered not the information presented in the form of phrases, but the location of its storage on the computer's hard drive. Participants in the second group, in turn, remembered the phrases themselves better.
Researchers believe that with the development of computer technology and the Internet, human ability to remember information will not become worse. According to her, memory simply changes, adapting to work with increasing volumes of available data.
*The test is based on the differences in visual and logical perception of color (the real color and its name are contrasted). It is used to study verbal processes.
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