Skip to main content

A Framework and Methods for Researching the Interplay of Internal and External Memory

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Memory and Technology

Abstract

In this chapter we provide a summary of the results of the current study, which we described in detail in Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4. We also discuss the limitations of the current study, with an eye toward future research. Most importantly, we present a framework that synthesizes the relative strengths and main purposes of internal and external memory and the directional ways in which they affect each other. This framework should help organize both the interpretation of past research and the development of future research. Finally, we review the most relevant research methods available for the study of external memory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson, M. (2015, October). Technology device ownership: 2015. Retrieved from Pew Research Center website: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015

  • Beach, K. (1988). The role of external mnemonic symbols in acquiring an occupation. In M. Gruneberg, P. Morris, & R. Sykes (Eds.), Practical aspects of memory: Current research and issues (Vol. 1, pp. 342–346). New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaudoin, M., & Desrichard, O. (2011). Are memory self-efficacy and memory performance related? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 137(2), 211–241. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022106

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolger, N., Davis, A., & Rafaeli, E. (2003). Diary methods: Capturing life as it is lived. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 579–616.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolger, N., & Laurenceau, J. (2013). Intensive longitudinal methods: An introduction to diary and experience sampling research. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, W. F. (1988). Memory for randomly sampled autobiographical events. In U. Neisser & E. Winograd (Eds.), Remembering reconsidered: Ecological and traditional approaches to the study of memory (pp. 21–90). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brinkmann, S. (2012). Qualitative inquiry in everyday life: Working with everyday life materials. London, UK: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • BullGuard. (2012). Mobile phones responsible for contact memory loss, according to study [Press release]. Retrieved from http://pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/73222/mobile-phones-responsible-for-contact-memory-loss-according-to-study/

  • Case, D. O., & Given, L. M. (2016). Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking, needs and behavior (4th ed.). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung, C. K., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2014). Using computerized text analysis to track social processes. In T. M. Holtgraves & T. M. Holtgraves (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of language and social psychology (pp. 219–230). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838639.013.037

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. (2008). Supersizing the mind: Embodiment, action, and cognitive extension. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Conner, T. S., Barrett, L. F., Tugade, M. M., & Tennen, H. (2007). Idiographic personality: The theory and practice of experience sampling. In R. W. Robins, R. C. Fraley, & R. Kreuger (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in personality psychology (pp. 79–98). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (2014). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. In M. Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.), Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 35–54). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutrell, E., Dumais, S. T., & Teevan, J. (2006). Searching to eliminate personal information management. Communications of the ACM, 49(1), 58–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlbäck, N., & Kristiansson, M. (2016). A perspective on all cognition? A study of everyday environments from the perspective of distributed cognition. In 38th annual conference of the cognitive science society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 10–13, 2016 (pp. 734–739). Red Hook, NY: Cognitive Science Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, M. R. W. (2013). Mind, body, world: Foundations of cognitive science. Edmonton, Canada: AU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finley, J. R., Brewer, W. F., & Benjamin, A. S. (2011). The effects of end-of-day picture review and a sensor-based picture capture procedure on autobiographical memory using SenseCam. Memory, 19(7), 796–807.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Forsblad, M. (2016). Distributed cognition in home environments: The prospective memory and cognitive practices of older adults (Doctoral dissertation). Linköping University, Sweden. Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-130861

  • Fradkin, A. (2014, May). A guide to using corporate data for academic research. Retrieved from http://andreyfradkin.com/posts/2014/02/08/how-to-obtain-proprietary-datasets-for-research-part-1

  • Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guadagno, R. E., Okdie, B. M., & Eno, C. A. (2008). Who blogs? Personality predictors of blogging. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), 1993–2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2007.09.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guadagno, R. E., Okdie, B. M., & Muscanell, N. L. (2013). Have we all just become ‘Robo-Sapiens’? Reflections on social influence processes in the Internet age. Psychological Inquiry, 24(4), 301–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2013.846207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, K. A., McIntyre, K. P., & Hertel, P. T. (2016). Judging knowledge in the information age: The role of external-memory organization. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30(6), 1080–1087.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harari, G. M., Lane, N. D., Wang, R., Crosier, B. S., Campbell, A. T., & Gosling, S. D. (2016). Using smartphones to collect behavioral data in psychological science: Opportunities, practical considerations, and challenges. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(6), 838–854. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616650285

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. E. (1980). Memory aids people use: Two interview studies. Memory & Cognition, 8(1), 31–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartman, H. (2014, November). The photo management challenge. Retrieved from Suite 48 Analytics website: http://www.suite48a.com

  • Henkel, L. A. (2014). Point-and-shoot memories: The influence of taking photos on memory for a museum tour. Psychological Science, 25(2), 396–402.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herrmann, D. J. (1982). Know thy memory: The use of questionnaires to assess and study memory. Psychological Bulletin, 92(2), 434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollan, J., Hutchins, E., & Kirsh, D. (2000). Distributed cognition: Toward a new foundation for human-computer interaction research. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 7(2), 174–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iida, M., Shrout, P. E., Laurenceau, J., & Bolger, N. (2012). Using diary methods in psychological research. In H. Cooper, P. M. Camic, D. L. Long, A. T. Panter, D. Rindskopf, & K. J. Sher (Eds.), APA handbook of research methods in psychology, Vol 1: Foundations, planning, measures, and psychometrics (pp. 277–305). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13619-016

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Intons-Peterson, M. J., & Fournier, J. (1986). External and internal memory aids: When and how often do we use them. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 115(3), 267–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Intons-Peterson, M. J., & Newsome, G. L. (1992). External memory aids: Effects and effectiveness. In D. J. Herrmann, H. Weingartner, A. Searleman, & C. McEvoy (Eds.), Memory improvement: Implications for memory theory (pp. 101–121). New York, NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kaspersky Lab. (2015). The rise and impact of digital amnesia: Why we need to protect what we no longer remember. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20160625064725/https://kasperskycontenthub.com/usa/files/2015/06/Digital-Amnesia-Report.pdf

  • Kingstone, A., Smilek, D., & Eastwood, J. D. (2008). Cognitive ethology: A new approach for studying human cognition. British Journal of Psychology, 99(3), 317–340.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kjellberg, S. (2010). I am a blogging researcher: Motivations for blogging in a scholarly context. First Monday, 15(8). Retrieved from http://www.firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2962/2580

  • Klein, A. (2016, June 2). Data backup: Are you a hero or a zero? [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.backblaze.com/blog/data-backup-survey/

  • Kobayashi, K. (2005). What limits the encoding effect of note-taking? A meta-analytic examination. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30(2), 242–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in practice: Mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, C. C. (2007). How people manage personal information over a lifetime. In W. Jones & J. Teevan (Eds.), Personal information management (pp. 57–75). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehl, M. R., & Conner, T. S. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of research methods for studying daily life. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehl, M. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2003). The sounds of social life: A psychometric analysis of students’ daily social environments and natural conversations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 857.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. (2012). The smartphone psychology manifesto. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(3), 221–237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Naumer, C. M., & Fisher, K. E. (2007). Naturalistic approaches for understanding PIM. In W. Jones & J. Teevan (Eds.), Personal information management (pp. 76–88). Seattle WA: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84(3), 231–259. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.3.231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okdie, B. M., Guadagno, R. E., Rempala, D. M., & Eno, C. A. (2011). Who blogs in 2010? An updated look at individual differences in blogging. International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies, 1, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paxton, A., Rodriguez, K., & Dale, R. (2015). PsyGlass: Capitalizing on Google Glass for naturalistic data collection. Behavior Research Methods, 47(3), 608–619.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pink, S., Horst, H., Postill, J., Hjorth, L., Lewis, T., & Tacchi, J. (2016). Digital ethnography: Principles and practice. London, UK: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prosser, J. (1998). Image-based research: A sourcebook for qualitative researchers. Philadelphia: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Purcell, K., & Rainie, L. (2014, December). Americans feel better informed thanks to the Internet. Retrieved from Pew Research Center website: http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/12/08/better-informed/

  • Ross, M. (1989). Relation of implicit theories to the construction of personal histories. Psychological Review, 96(2), 341–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.96.2.341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, D. M., & Lawrence, S. (2007). Search everything. In W. Jones & J. Teevan (Eds.), Personal information management (pp. 153–166). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salthouse, T. A. (2004). What and when of cognitive aging. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(4), 140–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00293.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaie, K. W. (1965). A general model for the study of developmental problems. Psychological Bulletin, 64(2), 92–107. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022371

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schaie, K. W. (1986). Beyond calendar definitions of age, time, and cohort: The general developmental model revisited. Developmental Review, 6(3), 252–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/0273-2297(86)90014-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schönpflug, W. (1986a). External information storage: An issue for the psychology of memory and cognitive capabilities. In F. Klix & H. Hagendorf (Eds.), Human memory and cognitive capabilities (Vol. 1, pp. 369–375). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schönpflug, W. (1986b). The trade-off between internal and external information storage. Journal of Memory and Language, 25(6), 657–675.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schryer, E., & Ross, M. (2013). The use and benefits of external memory aids in older and younger adults. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 27(5), 663–671.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scribner, S. (1984). Studying working intelligence. In B. Rogoff, J. Lave, B. Rogoff, & J. Lave (Eds.), Everyday cognition: Its development in social context (pp. 9–40). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seminara, J. L., Gonzalez, W. R., & Parsons, S. O. (1976). Human factors review of nuclear power plant control room design (EPRI Report NP-309). Electric Power Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharit, J. (2012). Human error and human reliability analysis. In G. Salvendy (Ed.), Handbook of human factors and ergonomics (4th ed., pp. 734–800). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sparrow, B., Liu, J., & Wegner, D. M. (2011). Google effects on memory: Cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips. Science, 333(6043), 776–778.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, J. (1993). An observational study of skilled memory in waitresses. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 7(3), 205–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, A. A., & Shiffman, S. (2002). Capturing momentary, self-report data: A proposal for reporting guidelines. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(3), 236–243. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15324796ABM2403_09

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Storm, B. C., Stone, S. M., & Benjamin, A. S. (2016). Using the internet to access information inflates future use of the Internet to access other information. Memory, 25(6), 717–723.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Teo, T. (2013). An initial development and validation of a Digital Natives Assessment Scale (DNAS). Computers & Education, 67, 51–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, C. P. (1982). Memory for unique personal events: The roommate study. Memory & Cognition, 10(4), 324–332. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, C. P., Skowronski, J. J., Larsen, S. F., & Betz, A. L. (1996). Autobiographical memory: Remembering what and remembering when. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Dijck, J. (2007). Mediated memories in the digital age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, A. F. (2013). One with the Cloud: Why people mistake the Internet’s knowledge for their own (Doctoral dissertation). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. Retrieved from http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11004901

  • Williams, R. F. (2006). Using cognitive ethnography to study instruction cognitive ethnography. In Proceeding of the 7th international conference of the learning sciences (Vol. 2). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zittoun, T., & Gillespie, A. (2012). Using diaries and self-writings as data in psychological research. In E. Abbey & S. Surgan (Eds.), Emerging methods in psychology (pp. 1–26). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Finley, J.R., Naaz, F., Goh, F.W. (2018). A Framework and Methods for Researching the Interplay of Internal and External Memory. In: Memory and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99169-6_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics