Khudova V.A., Glebko N.R. Digitalization of Memory: The Google Effect and Memorization of Information

Digitalization and the widespread use of the Internet have changed the way people interact with information. The Internet and digital devices are becoming a kind of “external memory storage,” functioning as a form of transactive memory: instead of relying on their own cognitive resources, people increasingly trust search engines and cloud services. In this regard, the question of how the preservation of information in a digital environment affects the memorization of new information is relevant.

The main purpose of the study was to test the effect of improving memorization while preserving the initial information: it was assumed that the process of preservation itself creates confidence in the availability of information, reducing cognitive load and contributing to better assimilation of subsequent material. In the absence of trust in preservation, on the contrary, the effect may not appear. This study is a replication of the work of Storm and Stone.

The laboratory experiment involved 50 people randomly divided into two groups. The subjects worked with simulations of typical files and folders on a computer. The conditions varied: in the “reliable” one, the saved files were guaranteed to be available, and in the “unreliable” one, the opening of the files was accompanied by an error. In addition, the subjects performed tasks with and without instructions for saving the first file (2 types of conditions).

The results showed that in the reliable condition, there was a tendency to better reproduce words while preserving the original information, especially for the first file (A). For the second file (B), the differences were of the nature of a statistical trend (p = 0.10). In the unreliable condition, on the contrary, higher reproduction rates were observed in samples without saving, which may indicate increased reliance on one's own memory in case of distrust of external media. The hypothesis was partially confirmed.

Key words: digital environment, memory, Google effect, saving data

For citation: Khudova, V.A., Glebko, N.R. (2026). Digitalization of Memory: the Google Effect and Memorization of Information. New Psychological Research, No. 2, 13–37. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2026_06_02_01

Acknowledgment

This work/article is an output of a research project (HSE-BR-2025-046) implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at HSE University.