Concept · Cognitive Bias: Memory biases and distortions
Google effect (digital amnesia)
Origin: Sparrow et al., 2011
Biological Parallel
Ant colonies store food externally rather than memorizing every cache location—when retrieval is cheap, internal storage becomes metabolically wasteful. The Google effect is adaptive offloading: brains evolved to minimize expensive memory storage when reliable external sources exist. This isn't cognitive decline; it's optimal resource allocation—remembering where information lives costs less than remembering information itself.