… we use technology as a source of transactive memory, meaning that when we intend to retain this information internally, we can. This kind of effect on memory is likely to be short term and circumscribed to the information the subjects saved onto the device. If people are unable to remember facts because search engines have worsened our memory in the long term, we should have observed people in both conditions—save versus not save—struggling to remember the statements, because the entire sample is likely to have smartphones and PCs and tablets and have used them in the past. So, it’s possible that when technology is present, yes, we can make use of it, but when technology is not there, then we have no choice—we have to rely on our naked brains, so to speak.
[…] If your view of cognition is not necessarily just what’s happening in the brain, then to us, it’s clear that technology does change how cognition works. If you think about the uses that we associate mostly with our smartphones—we use it to chat with friends or loved ones, to respond to emails for work—it is normal that we associate important motivations with our digital tools. There will always be a part of our mind that is attuned to these tools with this motivational pull, which then translates into probably some lower cognitive capacity. But the origin is not from the technology itself diminishing our cognitive capacity. It’s from these important goals being associated with the technology. It’s possible that a lot of people have these types of motivational pulls that are distracting them, especially when their smartphone is right next to them.