Easy internet access makes young people forgetful

Researchers say that relying on the internet increases levels of forgetfulness.

 

In a series of tests, scientists found that people who believed information had been erased from a computer were more likely to remember it than those who thought the information was stored.

 

In a similar experiment, Harvard University researchers asked students to answer trivia questions both with and without the internet.

 

They found that pupils who used search engines had a higher view of their own intelligence, even when compared to those who got the questions right without online resources.

 

“Using Google gives people the sense that the internet has become part of their own cognitive tool set,” the Harvard University researchers said.

 

Researchers found that a lot of young people are beginning to see the internet as an extension of their own thinking ability because it provides them with instant answers.

 

Scientists also believe that young people are more likely to save information electronically, as opposed to relying on their own memory.

 

These findings are particularly worrying because the internet may take the place of humans as external sources of memory.