Storm et al

Aim: to investigate the reliance on google for information retrieval

Procedure

Sample: undergraduate volunteers

Lab experiment

Participants were divided into three groups: internet, memory and baseline

Internet: ppts used google to answer eight difficult general knowledge questions

Memory; ppts answered the same questions from memory

Baseline: ppts were not asked any questions

All ppts answered eight easy general questions quickly

Ppts had access to google but weren't instructed to use it

Measured the proportion of questions using Google search

Findings

Internet group: 83% of answers were retrieved on Google

Memory group: 63% of answers relied on Google

Baseline Group: 65% of answers were obtained through Google

Conclusion

Using internet search engines increases the likelihood of future reliance on them

Suggests reduced use of personal memory for information recall

Highlights potential effects of technology on cognitive processes

Repeated use of google may diminish memory utilisation over time

Evaluation

(+) Reliability - standardised procedure, conducted in a lab

(-) Low ecological validity - answering general knowledge questions in a lab is different from everyday knowledge retrieval