The Effects of Computer Reliance and Relationships on Memory

<p>Research supports the notion that the internet may serve as a transactive memory source for many individuals. Because, for many, information from technology is so accessible, humans may be less likely to encode and store information in their memory, potentially resulting in a smaller knowledge base over time (Sparrow, Liu, & Wegner, 2011). The current study examined the effects of exposing participants to a computer, friend, or neutral prime. Procedure order was also varied among the groups to determine whether potential memory failure would occur due to an encoding failure or a retrieval failure. Participants were asked to write out a list of trivia statements either before or after learning while receiving either a computer, friend, or neutral prime. The data were analyzed with a 2 x 3 (before/after learning by type of prime) ANCOVA with age, gender, year in college, ethnicity, high school GPA, college GPA, relationship status, hours online per day, and purpose of time online as covariates. No significant results were found. This information is still very important in determining how technology and environmental social factors impact memory performance and where future efforts should be placed in terms of strengthening and preserving our knowledge base.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Experimental Psychology (M.S.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Beyer, Denise

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lawrence Locker
• Karen Naufel

• ETD
• Transactive memory
• Priming
• Long-term memory
• Encoding
• Retrieval
• Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/28

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1026