A LITERATURE REVIEW OF HOW SEARCH-ENGINE DEPENDENCY INFLUENCES MEMORY ENCODING AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN YOUNG ADULTS (18-25)
Keywords:
Digital Cognition; Cognitive Offloading; Search-Engine Dependency; Memory Encoding; Extended Mind; Artificial IntelligenceAbstract
Digital technologies have become deeply embedded in everyday cognitive activity, particularly through the widespread use of search engines and artificial intelligence for information access and problem solving. This literature review examines how digital reliance reshapes memory, learning, and broader cognitive processes. The review focuses on studies published between 2011 and 2025 involving young adults aged 18–25, a population characterized by high technology use and ongoing cognitive development. The scope includes research on search-engine dependency, cognitive offloading, and Internet reliance, with attention to their theoretical links to cognitive and neurocognitive mechanisms. The reviewed findings show that digital tools provide adaptive benefits by reducing cognitive load, increasing efficiency, and supporting higher-level reasoning when used strategically. At the same time, frequent and unreflective reliance on external information sources is associated with reduced depth of memory encoding, weaker long-term retention, and increased dependence on external systems. Evidence across studies highlights cognitive offloading as a key mechanism that explains both improved task performance and potential learning costs. The discussion integrates these findings within frameworks of outsourced cognition and the extended mind, emphasizing that cognition increasingly operates across internal and external systems. The review concludes that digital dependency produces context-dependent cognitive outcomes rather than uniform effects. Its contribution lies in clarifying how strategic versus habitual technology use shapes cognition, with important implications for cognitive psychology and education in the digital
Downloads
References
Akhter, D. M. (2025). Memory in the Digital Era: Cognitive and Cultural Shifts in Remembering. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 13(2), 3796–3810. https://doi.org/10.25215/1302.336
Chirayath, G., Premamalini, K., & Joseph, J. (2025). Cognitive offloading or cognitive overload? How AI alters the mental architecture of coping. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 01–06. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1699320
Diotaiuti, P., Mancone, S., Corrado, S., De Risio, A., Cavicchiolo, E., Girelli, L., & Chirico, A. (2022). Internet addiction in young adults: The role of impulsivity and codependency. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.893861
Fröscher, L., Friedrich, A. K., Berentelg, M., Widmer, C., Gilbert, S. J., & Papenmeier, F. (2022). Framing cognitive offloading in terms of gains or losses: achieving a more optimal use of reminders. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-022-00416-3
Gerlich, M. (2025). AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking. Societies, 15(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15010006
Gong, C., & Yang, Y. (2024). Google effects on memory: a meta-analytical review of the media effects of intensive Internet search behavior. Frontiers in Public Health, 12(January), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1332030
Grinschgl, S., Papenmeier, F., & Meyerhoff, H. S. (2023). Mutual interplay between cognitive offloading and secondary task performance. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 30(6), 2250–2261. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02312-3
Jose, B., Joseph, D., Mohan, V., Alexander, E., Varghese, S. K., & Roy, A. (2025). Outsourcing cognition: the psychological costs of AI-era convenience. Frontiers in Psychology, 16(December), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1645237
Kabashkin, I. (2025). Cognitive Atrophy Paradox of AI–Human Interaction: From Cognitive Growth and Atrophy to Balance. Information (Switzerland), 16(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/info16111009
Lee, Y., & Lee, S. S. (2025). Exploring the Conceptual Model and Instructional Design Principles of Intelligent Problem-Solving Learning. Sustainability (Switzerland), 17(17), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17177682
Meyerhoff, H. S., Grinschgl, S., Papenmeier, F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2021). Individual differences in cognitive offloading: a comparison of intention offloading, pattern copy, and short-term memory capacity. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00298-x
Murphy, D. H., & Castel, A. D. (2023). Age-Related Differences in Memory When Offloading Important Information. Psychology and Aging, 38(5), 415–427. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000750
Peper, P., & Ball, B. H. (2025). Anticipating a Reminder Influences Prospective Memory Encoding and Unaided Retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001494
Richmond, L. L., Kearley, J., Schwartz, S. T., & Hargis, M. B. (2023). Take a load off: examining partial and complete cognitive offloading of medication information. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 8(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-023-00468-z
Robert, S. J., & Kadhiravan, S. (2022). Prevalence of digital amnesia, somatic symptoms and sleep disorders among youth during COVID-19 pandemic. Heliyon, 8(8), e10026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10026
Rodrigues, F., Casillas-Martín, S., & Pocinho, R. (2025). Digital Entanglement: The Influence of Internet Addiction and Negative Affect on Memory Functions—A Structural Approach. Digital, 5(3), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/digital5030037
Say, S., Akbulut, S., & Öztürk, İ. Y. (2025). Capturing the Experience: How Digital Media Affects Memory Retention in Museum Education. Behavioral Sciences, 15(9), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15091247
Shanmugasundaram, M., & Tamilarasu, A. (2023). The impact of digital technology, social media, and artificial intelligence on cognitive functions: a review. Frontiers in Cognition, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcogn.2023.1203077
Shin, B., Kang, M., Eun, S., & Cho, Y. H. (2025). Patterns of Cognitive Offloading and Extended Mind in Digital Academic Reading with AI-generated Annotations. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2025, 2024, 3212–3214. https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2025.682206
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Daffa Jamaludin (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
