Offloading cognition to external stores is practiced ubiquitously in daily life (e.g., counting on fingers, writing lists), yetis a relatively new area of investigation within cognitive science. Previous experiments have assessed the benefits anddownfalls, including participants lowered memory for offloaded information that is no longer available (Gardony et al.,2013; Sparrow et al., 2011). In addition, when offloading, individuals appear susceptible to manipulations of their externalstore (Risko et al., 2019). Here we report an experiment investigating how the perceived reliability of an external storeaffects individuals susceptibility to manipulation of that store. Consistent with previous research, results suggest thatthe majority of participants do not notice an item inserted into their external store. However, once cued to this event,individuals do become more likely to subsequently notice a manipulation of their external store. Implications of thisresearch for our understanding of distributed memory systems will be discussed.

Offloading cognition to external stores is practiced ubiquitously in daily life (e.g., counting on fingers, writing lists), yet is a relatively new area of investigation within cognitive science. Previous experiments have assessed the benefits and downfalls, including participants’ lowered memory for offloaded information that is no longer available (Gardony et al., 2013; Sparrow et al., 2011). In addition, when offloading, individuals appear susceptible to manipulations of their external store (Risko et al., 2019). We report a series of experiments investigating how the perceived reliability of an external store affects individuals’ susceptibility to manipulation of that store. Consistent with previous research, results suggest that the majority of participants do not notice an item inserted into their external store. However, once cued to this event, individuals do become more likely to subsequently notice a manipulation of their external store. Implications of this research for our understanding of distributed memory systems will be discussed.

Older adults can experience declines in their cognitive abilities, which could affect their ability to engage in daily activities such as driving. Here, we compare the driving habits of older adults across different cognitive groups: cognitively healthy older adults (control), Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). We analyzed data from the large-scale Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia study (COMPASS-ND, Chertkow et al., 2019). Results revealed that the AD group drove the least often and shortest distances. Interestingly, on several measures, the SCD group was more like the MCI group than the control group (driving frequency, restrictions), suggesting that even subjective declines were associated with differences in driving habits. We will further discuss how these results are influenced by sensory and demographic factors. Driving-related limitations could reduce older adults’ participation and access to essential resources, in turn, negatively affecting their physical and mental health.