2. Cognitive Ethics & research methods Cognitive processing
Models of memory
Schema theory
Thinking & decision making
Reliability of cognitive processing
Reconstructive memory
Biases in thinking and decision making
Emotion & cognition
Cognitive processing in the digital world

3. Is Google making us stupid?
Nicholas Carr (2008) wrote an article in The Atlantic which asked the question: Is Google making us stupid? 
The belief that people are using the Internet as a personal memory bank is referred to as the Google effect. The question is, does it really exist?

4. Cognitive processing in the digital world
Learning outcomes
The influence of digital technology on cognitive processes.
The positive and negative effects of modern technology on cognitive processes.
Methods used to study the interaction between digital technology and cognitive processes.

5. The influence of digital technology on cognitive processes
What cognitive process is the digital world influencing?
Are these effects entirely negative?
Can we use this information in a predictive manner?
How can we test these hypothesis?

6. Transactive memory systems
Wegner et al (1985) suggested that an additional form of memory might exist within groups of closely linked individuals.
More than just the sum total of memories stored by the members of the group. They also include knowledge of where information can be found (i.e. who knows what) and how to access it (i.e. the best way to extract information from another member of the group).  Collaboration between group members may also be essential to the retrieval of essential information.
For example, Dad may not remember the birthdays of the family members because he knows that mom will remember them. 
Although transactive memory can be a positive way to manage our lives, can you see how it could be detrimental if you always study with the same friends for your psychology exams?  What could be some of the drawbacks of reliance on this type of memory?

7. New Transactive memory systems
 Sparrow et al, 2011 wondered if the Internet has become an enormous transactive memory store.
In this model, individuals would no longer need to remember information but would simply need to remember how to search for it effectively using a search engine such as Google.
One prediction would be that we invest less effort in committing information to memory if we believe we can simply retrieve the information from an external memory store such as Google at a later date. 

8. Sparrow et al, 2011
Participants were asked to type 40 trivia facts into the computer.
Some of the facts were expected to represent new knowledge (An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain) whilst other facts were more likely to be already known to the participants (The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas in Feb. 2003).
The experiment used a 2 x 2 independent samples. Half the participants were told that the computer would store everything they typed for later reference whilst the other half were told the information would be erased.
Within each of these groups half the participants were explicitly asked to try to remember the information.
Find the results of the study, what does this imply about how the digital world is affecting our cognitive processing

9. Follow up study
In a follow up study, Sparrow et al tried to measure how well people recall where information can be found compared to recall of the information itself. In this experiment, participants were asked to read and type a series of trivia facts. After typing each fact participants were given the name of a specific folder that this information would be stored in. There were six folders in total but participants were not explicitly given this information or asked to recall the folder names, (‘facts’, ‘data’, ‘info’, ‘points’, ‘items’ or ‘names’)
Participants were then given ten minutes to write down as many of the statements as they could remember. They were then given a part of a statement and asked which folder it was saved in.  For example, “What folder was the statement about the ostrich saved in?”
Find the results of the study, what does this imply about how the digital world is affecting our cognitive processing

10. Evaluation
The results of Sparrow’s research demonstrate a difference in the level of recall when people believe that the information that they are typing will be saved or not saved. It is possible that the reason for the difference in the two conditions is the result of a difference in the amount of effort used to learn the trivia facts. How could each of the following factors perhaps be used to explain the results?
Participant variability
Confounding variables
Demand characteristics
Potential responses

11. Participant variability:
The verbal declarative memory skills of the participants may not have been the same. With small sample sizes, this may lead to a distortion of the results. In addition, some participants may be more dependent on their computers than others. Finally, there may be philosophical differences among the participants. Having a belief that there is no need to memorise why is available online may have led to a pattern of behaviour which means that memorisation skills are not developed.

12. Confounding (extraneous) variables:
Some of the facts may be more personally relevant to the participants than others. This would make them more likely to be recalled. One's ability to type may also have had an effect on their recall; if they were frustrated with the typing process, especially since they were being watched, this may have led to anxiety which would have influenced their ability to recall.

13. Demand characteristics:
It could well be that the participants figured out the aim of the experiment; in this case, expectancy effect could have occurred.

14. Storm et al (2016)
Aimed to test the idea that successful use of Google to retrieve information made it more likely that participants would rely on Google in the future rather than recalling information from their individual memory store.
60 undergraduate volunteers took part in this lab experiment. They were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: Internet, memory or baseline. In the first phase of the procedure, participants in the Internet condition were told to use Google Search to answer a series of eight difficult general knowledge questions. Participants in the ‘memory’ condition were asked to answer the same questions, but relying entirely on their own memory to do so. Participants in the baseline condition were not asked any questions.
In the second phase all participants were asked to answer eight easy general questions as fast as possible. All participants were given access to Google Search but without any explicit instruction to use it. The dependent variable was the proportion of questions for which participants chose to use Google Search in the second phase of the procedure.

15. Overall Positive & Negative Effects
Positive effects
Negative effects
Increased cognitive flexibility (Glass, Maddow and Love, 2013)
Less grey matter in the hippocampus when processing spatial tasks. (West et al, 2015)
Ability to process information more quickly to make decisions (Bavelier 2011)
Poorer navigational skills and decision making when trying to find one's way. (Ishikawa et al, 2007)
Increased spatial skills (Uttal et al., 2013)
Heavy multitaskers show lower WM performance and LTM performance (Uncapher, Thieu and Wagner, 2016)
Internet searching linked to changes in brain activity related to decision making (Small et al, 2009)
Heavy users of smartphones exhibit less analytical “cognitive styles” and poorer performance on knowledge measures (Barr et al, 2015)
Frequent computer use was associated with better task-switching performance (Tun and Lachman, 2010)
Digital devices may deprive our brains of downtime, necessary for creative thinking (Richtel, 2010)