ABSTRACT

Prior research has shown that people are more likely to remember information that is deleted from a computer than information that is saved on a computer, presumably because saving serves as a form of cognitive offloading. Given recent concerns about the robustness and replicability of this “Google Effect,” we conducted two experiments seeking to replicate and extend the phenomenon by identifying a potential boundary condition for when it is observed. In Experiment 1, we replicated the Google Effect, but only when participants experienced a practice phase demonstrating the reliability of the saving process. No evidence of a Google Effect was observed when participants experienced a practice phase demonstrating the saving process to be unreliable. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results of Experiment 1 in the reliable condition, while demonstrating the effect to be robust across 10 different topics of trivia statements. Taken together, these results suggest that the Google Effect is a replicable phenomenon, but that the perceived reliability of the saving process is critical for determining whether it is observed.

摘要

先前的研究表明，与保存在计算机上的信息相比，人们更容易记住从计算机中删除的信息，这可能是因为保存是一种认知卸载的形式。鉴于最近对这种“谷歌效应”的稳健性和可复制性的担忧，我们进行了两项实验，试图通过确定观察时的潜在边界条件来复制和扩展该现象。在实验 1 中，我们复制了 Google 效应，但仅在参与者经历了展示保存过程可靠性的练习阶段时。当参与者经历证明保存过程不可靠的练习阶段时，没有观察到谷歌效应的证据。在实验 2 中，我们在可靠条件下复制了实验 1 的结果，同时展示了在 10 个不同主题的琐事陈述中的稳健效果。总之，这些结果表明谷歌效应是一种可复制的现象，但保存过程的感知可靠性对于确定是否观察到它至关重要。