Abstract
Grinschgl, Papenmeier, and Meyerhoff test the bill after an offload: people do better on the task while the information sits outside the head, and they remember less of what the external store held.
Grinschgl, S., Papenmeier, F., & Meyerhoff, H. S. (2021). Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(9), 1477–1496. DOI
Key findings
- Performance rises — When the external store is available, people complete more of the immediate task.
- Memory falls — The same offload leaves a weaker memory for the material that was stored outside.
Limits
A laboratory comparison of offloading versus holding material internally. It is not a verdict on calendars, photographs, or models in a life. Read it as one measured trade: the task gets easier, the trace gets thinner.
Application
When you hand a step to a note or a tool, name whether you still need the memory after the step is done (Cognitive offloading).