UCLA

The internet has revolutionized how we access information, allowing us not only to find new knowledge, but also to retrieve information that we may already have stored in our memory but does not readily come to mind. As a consequence, we are vulnerable to googling before even trying to retrieve such information (e.g., Storm et al., 2017; Sparrow et al., 2011), thus bypassing the benefits of “retrieval as a memory modifier” (Bjork, 1975): that is, making the recalled information more memorable in the future. Googling before thinking can have metacognitive costs as well, such as impairing judgments as to whether information will be recallable if needed in the future. In addition, even a failed attempt to retrieve yet-to-be-learned information can potentiate learning, versus simply being presented with that information, typically referred to as the pretesting effect (e.g., Grimaldi & Karpicke, 2012; Kornell, Hays & Bjork, 2009; Little & Bjork, 2016). To investigate the potential benefits of pretesting with the internet, I examined whether an attempt to guess the answer to a question or problem before using the internet to find the solution (aka thinking-before-googling) can make the subsequently googled information more memorable compared to simply googling the answer right-away. Additionally, I wondered as to whether thinking about yet-to-be-learned information can also strengthen the memory for relevant information learned prior to the Google search. (Chapter 2 & 3). Furthermore, I explored ways to enhance the attractiveness of engaging thinking-before-googling attempts without reducing its efficacy (Chapter 4). Overall, attempting to think, before consulting the internet, about a question or a solution to a problem promotes better memory for searched-for information found on the internet as well as relevant information learned prior to the Google search. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the idea of hint support may result in a higher self-reported willingness to engage in thinking-before-googling attempts, without compromising the benefits of pretesting in the context of internet-based learning. Taken together, these findings have implications for how one could use the internet as a more effective tool for learning.