What is "The Google Effect"? In this video, we will be taking a look at digital amnesia and its effects on your memory and your brain. Google is a powerful tool and is being used as a transactive memory source for us in the 21st century. Just as notebooks and sticky notes were used as external memory sources in the past, Google and the internet have almost replaced these items to make our transactive memory almost limitless. Enjoy the video!

Join the community:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MindfulThinks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindfulThinks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulthinks/
TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdModhLG/

Contact me:
mindfulthinks.com
carlos@mindfulthinks.com

Additional Reading:
Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dwegner/files/sparrow_et_al._2011.pdf
Is The Google Effect Messing With Your Brain?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stretching-theory/202109/is-the-google-effect-messing-your-brain
What Is The “Google” Effect?
https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/what-is-the-google-effect.html

You might have even Googled this topic before you got here.

Well, what if I told you that your constant Googling could actually be having an impact on your brain?

In this video, we will be discussing some research and insights from something known as the Google Effect.

The Google Effect, also known as digital amnesia, is the idea that the modern day person's behavior is being altered and Our brains better remember where information comes from instead of the information itself.

Simply put, why would I remember the fact that the height of the Eiffel Tower is 324 meters when I can just Google that information?

My brain knows it can access that fact from somewhere else, and treats Google like an external hard drive for memories, also known as transactive memory.

This reduces strain on itself from needlessly memorizing information that can be easily located.

Researchers have done multiple studies on the Google effect, but the 1 I thought was most interesting involved 2 groups of participants looking at 40 trivia facts.

1 group was told to memorize the facts, and the other group was told that the facts would be available to them later.

When both groups were later told to remember the facts with no assistance, the group that was told that they could access the facts later did a lot worse at remembering them.

If you don't think you'll need to memorize something later, why should you spend time trying to memorize it at all?

We do the same thing if we write something down in a notebook or sticky note.

Our brain has an expectation of being able to reference it later and doesn't spend that extra energy encoding the memory.

It's also the reason why we get annoyed when a teacher says something won't be on the test, and then it is.

But what makes the Google effect different is how much we rely now on technology for all our memories and information.

We don't need to remember anything considering everything is online and our brain is taking notice.

While this is amazing that our external memory is essentially limitless, 1 can only imagine how this can backfire if the information we find online is wrong and if we stop encoding things in our memory altogether.

The Google effect highlights our increasing reliance on technology for how we navigate the world around us.

While the pros and cons can be debated, what is known is that it is impacting the way our brains function.

Will you remember what I've said in this video?

Or will you just remember how to find this video next time you need an explanation of this effect?

Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.


Speaker 0: Hello everyone. Have you ever Googled something? Of course you have. You might have even Googled this topic before you got here. Well, what if I told you that your constant Googling could actually be having an impact on your brain?

In this video, we will be discussing some research and insights from something known as the Google Effect. The Google Effect, also known as digital amnesia, is the idea that the modern day person's behavior is being altered and Our brains better remember where information comes from instead of the information itself. Simply put, why would I remember the fact that the height of the Eiffel Tower is 324 meters when I can just Google that information? My brain knows it can access that fact from somewhere else, and treats Google like an external hard drive for memories, also known as transactive memory. This reduces strain on itself from needlessly memorizing information that can be easily located.

Researchers have done multiple studies on the Google effect, but the 1 I thought was most interesting involved 2 groups of participants looking at 40 trivia facts. 1 group was told to memorize the facts, and the other group was told that the facts would be available to them later. When both groups were later told to remember the facts with no assistance, the group that was told that they could access the facts later did a lot worse at remembering them. Now, this happens all the time. If you don't think you'll need to memorize something later, why should you spend time trying to memorize it at all?

We do the same thing if we write something down in a notebook or sticky note. Our brain has an expectation of being able to reference it later and doesn't spend that extra energy encoding the memory. It's also the reason why we get annoyed when a teacher says something won't be on the test, and then it is. But what makes the Google effect different is how much we rely now on technology for all our memories and information. We don't need to remember anything considering everything is online and our brain is taking notice.

While this is amazing that our external memory is essentially limitless, 1 can only imagine how this can backfire if the information we find online is wrong and if we stop encoding things in our memory altogether. The Google effect highlights our increasing reliance on technology for how we navigate the world around us. While the pros and cons can be debated, what is known is that it is impacting the way our brains function. What do you think? Will you remember what I've said in this video?

Or will you just remember how to find this video next time you need an explanation of this effect? Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.

See all MindfulThinks transcripts on Youtube

The Google Effect | Why You Can't Remember Things