Search engines change how memory works

"It's very similar to how we use people in our lives," said Sparrow. "The internet is as a matter of fact just an interface with a lot of other people."

In the study, published 14 July in Science, students typed trivia statements -- "Bluebirds cannot see the colour blue," "Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer," in short on -- into a computer.

Sparrow said the findings should be seen as an early-stage investigation into the relationships between online tools and cognition, which in spite of the omnipresence of Google, smartphones and cloud computing have been little studied.

The internet

"The internet and research in general is a huge part of people's lives. It makes no sense to me that we're not studying it more," she said.

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