Strategic use of internal and external memory in everyday life: episodic, semantic, procedural, and prospective purposes
Abstract
Humans have access to both internal memory (information stored in the brain) and external memory (information stored in the environment). To what extent do we use each in everyday life? In two experiments, participants rated both internal and external memory for frequency of use, dependability, ease of use (Experiment 1), and likelihood of use (Experiment 2) across four purposes: episodic, semantic, procedural, and prospective. Experiment 1 showed that internal memory was favoured for episodic and procedural purposes, while external memory was favoured for semantic purposes. Experiment 2 further clarified that internal memory was favoured for episodic and common procedural purposes, while external memory was favoured for uncommon semantic, uncommon procedural, and far-term prospective purposes. This strategic division of labour plays to the strengths of both forms of memory. Participants also generally rated external memory as more dependable and easier to use. Results support the memory symbiosis framework.
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People prefer to use their biological memory for episodic and common procedural knowledge and tend to externalize less commonly required semantic and procedural knowledge.
“They found that people prefer to use their biological memory for episodic and common procedural knowledge and tend to externalize less commonly required semantic and procedural knowledge.”
From The Cognitive Architecture of Digital Externalization (2023) · cites this paper as Finley and Naaz (2023)
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References 46 · Cited by 21
- Authors
- Finley, J. R., & Naaz, F.
- Affiliations
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Finley, Jason R.
- Venue
- Memory
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2022-09-28
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 108-126
- ISSN
- 0965-8211 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-0686
- OpenAlex
- W4297463023
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5
- FWCI
- 4.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Memory (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- internal memory, external memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory, prospective memory, everyday life
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Humans, Prospective Studies, Semantics, Memory, Episodic
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