The digital expansion of the mind: Implications of internet usage for memory and cognition.
Abstract
The internet is rapidly changing what information is available as well as how we find it and share it with others. Here we examine how this “digital expansion of the mind” changes cognition. We begin by identifying ten properties of the internet that likely affect cognition, roughly organized around internet content (e.g., the sheer amount of information available), internet usage (e.g., the requirement to search for information), and the people and communities who create and propagate content (e.g., people are connected in an unprecedented fashion). We use these properties to explain (or ask questions about) internet-related phenomena, such as habitual reliance on the internet, the propagation of misinformation, and consequences for autobiographical memory, among others. Our goal is to consider the impact of internet usage on many aspects of cognition, as people increasingly rely on the internet to seek, post, and share information.
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Adverse effects of digital technologies may also be observed in human memory, and the adoption of AI may further amplify them.
“In addition to writing, these adverse effects of digital technologies may also be observed in human memory (Marsh & Rajaram, 2019), and the adoption of AI may further amplify them.”
From Human Intelligence, Creativity, and Wisdom in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (2025) · cites this paper as Marsh & Rajaram, 2019
In a 2021 interview, Schacter explained there is no evidence that broad effect of engaging with social media fundamentally altering underlying experience of memory in multiple domains is happening at this stage, though not inconceivable it could eventually happen.
“In a 2021 interview with me for Memory, Mind & Media , Schacter explained that there is no evidence to indicate that a broad effect of ' engaging with and frequently experiencing social media, eventually fundamentally alter[ing] the underlying experience of memory in multiple domains ' is happening at this stage, although he also stated that it is not ' inconceivable ' that this domain general”
From AI and memory (2024) · cites this paper as [34]
Publicly shared information is often optimized for self-presentation and consequently more selective.
“First, publicly shared information is often optimized for self-presentation and consequently more selective (Marsh & Rajaram, 2019).”
From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Marsh & Rajaram, 2019
Intentionally encoding information in external resources for later retrieval is an effortful process that requires attention.
“Taken together, this suggests that intentionally encoding information in external resources for later retrieval is an effortful process that requires attention (cf.Marsh & Rajaram, 2019).”
From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Marsh & Rajaram, 2019
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References 133 · Cited by 186
- Authors
- Marsh, E. J., & Rajaram, S.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Stony Brook University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-14
- ISSN
- 2211-3681 (ISSN-L)
- 2211-369X
- OpenAlex
- W2910771635
- Cited by
- 186
- References
- 133
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 16
- FWCI
- 28.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Google Corporation (2014_R2_255)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Digital Media and Philosophy
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Personal Information Management and User Behavior
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information Retrieval and Search Behavior
- Keywords
- internet use, memory, cognition, autobiographical memory, misinformation, information seeking, online communities, information overload
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