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smartphones also exhibited less analytical “cognitive styles” and poorer performance on the
knowledge measures. Moreover, individuals who indicated that they spend a large amount of time
using the search engine function on their smartphones scored most poorly on these cognitive
measures. Of course, since
these results are derived from
self-reported data, it is
conceivable that participants
who highly weight their desire
for knowledge may also inflate
their memory for (and
estimates of) the time they
devote to using search engines.
Further, given the correlational
nature of the research, the
results cannot resolve whether,
as claimed, frequent search engine use can actually “supplant thinking,” or whether individuals who
already have a weaker tendency to engage cognitive analytic strategies also tend to use search
engines more frequently. Interpreted in a different light, Barr et al.’s (2015) results seem counter-
intuitive. After all, the tendency to go out of one’s way to seek information and knowledge has
been shown to be positively correlated with fluid intelligence (Fleischhauer et al., 2010).
Reinterpreted in this way, individuals with higher cognitive scores might have more semantic
knowledge already accessible to them, and thus would not need to resort to using their smartphones
as often. Moreover, it is possible that those with higher cognitive scores are able to conduct
searches more efficiently. Accordingly, they might use their smartphone’s search engine functions
just as frequently as those with low scores, but for a shorter duration each time.
Another recent study provides complementary empirical evidence regarding the potential impact of
digital media on memories for personally experienced events (Henkel, 2013). In this study,
participants were given digital cameras and taken on a tour of an art museum. Though the research
was concerned specifically with digital cameras, the fact that nearly all modern smartphones include
a digital camera function makes it relevant to the present discussion. Throughout the tour, the
participants were told to take pictures of specific objects, and were asked to observe other objects
without taking a picture. One day later, the participants were tested on their ability to distinguish
objects they had seen during the tour from brand new objects. The results showed that taking
photographs diminished memory for observed objects. Specifically, the participants’ who used the
camera during their tour showed a poorer ability to recognize objects as having been previously
viewed. A further experiment presented in the same paper showed that this effect was mitigated by
asking the participants to zoom in on specific features of the objects that they were viewing before
taking the picture. Interestingly, zooming in on a specific area did not increase recall accuracy for
details specific to that area vs. the work as a whole, but did improve overall memory for the object,
suggesting that the improvement was due to a more rich interaction with the object. Additional
empirical support for this phenomenon comes from Zauberman et al. (2015) who found that while
visual memory is improved by taking photographs, auditory memory of photographed events is
impaired. The practice of taking pictures and videos of trivial occurrences in one’s life (and
uploading them to a social media site) is increasingly common due to the proliferation of

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