preview

Effects Of Computers On Memory : Cognitive Consequences Of Having Information At Our Fingertips

Better Essays
The article titled. “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips”, was written by Betsy Sparrow, Jenny Liu, and Daniel M. Wegner. The article was published in Science Magazine. The readers that the author intends to reach are people in the science field, or those interested in knowing more about how computers can affect the brain, specifically cognitive abilities. The purpose of the author’s writing this article is to inform readers about the effects computers have on memory and how a person’s brain functions. The tone of the article is formal and educated. The author’s provide evidence through referring to the three experiments that they conducted, which relate to computers and memory. The…show more content…
In their second experiment the participants were asked to read, then type forty memorable trivia statements. After this activity, they had to write down as many of the statements that they could recall. This experiment was done to reveal if humans will remember information that they know they will have access to later on. The experiment revealed that people will better recall what they need to know if they will not have access to the information later, versus if they are told that they will have the opportunity to search up the information later, people will not put in effort into remembering the information (Sparrow).
In the article they also state that humans are becoming symbiotic with their computers, and that humans are growing into interconnected systems that remember less information because they know where they can find, and have access to the information they want to find (Sparrow). This presents the slight ethos contained within the article. This idea gives the impression that the minds of people heavily rely on the internet, so much that the internet and the brain are connected. Yet, this is a negative aspect because this teaches the brain to not actually comprehend or perceive information, but rather people know where they can go to access the readily available sources. Readers
Get Access