This is my IB Psychology HL Internal Assessment, where my group did an experiment within the Cognitive Approach. I hope this document can help you better structure your IA & guides you on how to present your critical thinking. Best of luck :)
I scored a 7 in IB Psychology HL & an overall 44/45 i...
An investigation of Transactive Memory
Systems on the rise of the ‘Google Effect’
among Senior School students
Word Count - 2191 words
Candidate Number - jmt151
Group member codes - jmt137, jmt147, hmb929
Day of Submission - 1/4/21
,Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Exploration..................................................................................................................................................2
Analysis.......................................................................................................................................................4
Evaluation....................................................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................6
Appendices..................................................................................................................................................8
Appendix i - Consent form for Senior School Students..........................................................................8
Appendix ii - Letter to Head of Senior School........................................................................................9
Appendix iii - Standardized Instructions (Briefing + Debriefing scripts).............................................10
Appendix iv - Presentation Slides showing Test Email and Example Questions on Google Forms......12
Appendix v - ‘Trivia Facts Task’ for Group 1 (Saved) and 2 (Non-saved)...........................................14
Appendix vi - List of Correct Trivia Facts and Recognition Task........................................................16
Appendix vii - Recognition Task..........................................................................................................17
Appendix viii - Method and Procedure of Experiment.........................................................................18
Appendix ix - Raw Experimental Data.................................................................................................19
Appendix x - Inferential Statistics........................................................................................................20
Introduction
Digital technology are external information sources where knowledge is stored, recovered, and organized.
As technology becomes increasingly prevalent in daily life, individuals' social and work habits change to
accommodate newfound accessibility of search engines such as Google. Despite these benefits, empirical
research suggests digital technology proposes increased reliance on transactive memory.
Transactive memory is a psychological concept proposed by Wegner et al. (1991). The theory describes
memory systems as an information network with a labor division between various external sources to
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, assist encoding, storage, and retrieving information. Wegner suggests that transactive memory systems
allow information to be shared collectively between interpersonal relationships; therefore, individuals can
access information outside their personal memory. A modern-day example of transactive memory is the
'Google Effect', or 'Digital Amnesia', proposed by empirical research Sparrow et al. (2011). Search
engines allow instant digital access to vast amounts of information, creating more reliance on transactive
memory systems than personal memories. The study investigates how a transactive memory system such
as Google has the negative consequence of increasing society's dependence on instant, external memory
stores.
Sparrow's 2x2 study asked a sample of 60 Harvard undergraduate students to type 40 facts into the
computer. Participants were randomly allocated to save ('saved' condition) or not save ('non-saved'
condition) the facts they typed and were informed to remember or not remember this information. A
recognition task was then given to participants, which required them to identify from a new list of trivia
that they have or have not seen in the previous task. Results showed that participants who believed facts
were saved on the computer recognized less than those who did not have this privilege, as they
understood these facts would be accessible to them externally from their memory at a later time. Overall,
the 'saved' condition made a less conscious effort to memorize trivia facts due to their reliance on
transactive memory systems. This current investigation explores the modern-day example of transactive
memory systems, the 'Google Effect,' to examine teenage students' over-reliance on external memory
stores to retrieve information.
The aim of this investigation is to explore if 'digital amnesia' impacts teenage students' ability to
correctly recognize trivia facts.
The null hypothesis indicates ‘participants informed that their notes will not be saved (non-saved
condition) and the group of participants informed that their notes will be saved (saved condition) will
have the same average number of correct trivia facts recognised.’
The research hypothesis states that ‘participants informed throughout that their notes will be saved
(saved condition) would recognise significantly less trivia facts correctly compared to the participants
informed throughout that their notes would not be saved (non-saved condition).’
Examining in adolescence how search engines broaden individuals' access to information from
interpersonal relationships will provide insights into the development of over-reliance on transactive
memory systems. Research findings may propose relevant suggestions to alter future learning techniques
assisting cognitive efficiency while preserving digital technology's practical nature.
Exploration
Our investigation uses an independent samples research design, where participants were randomly
allocated a number (Haahr, 2021) corresponding to the 'saved' or 'non-saved' condition and experienced
one condition of the independent variable. We modified the 2x2 design to focus on the results of the two
previously mentioned conditions, as Sparrow's original research suggested no significant difference when
participants were asked to remember trivia facts. An independent samples design avoids the practice
effect that a repeated measures design would impose on participants in the Recognition task. This design
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