Google Searches May Influence What People Forget, Test Finds, Columbia University Study

Internet searches are making information easy to forget, as more people rely on their computers as a type of “external memory,” a study of Harvard University students found. About 60 Harvard students were asked to type 40 pieces of trivia, such as “An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain,” into computers, and were told either the information would be saved or erased. People who believed the data would be saved were less likely to remember, according to the study published online by the journal Science.