In a development that would have seemed hardly possible just over a decade ago, many of us have gained constant access to information. If we need to find out the score of a ballgame, learn how to perform a complicated mathematical task, or simply remember the name of the actress in the movie we are viewing, we need only turn to our laptops or smart phones and we can find the answers immediately. It has become such an ordinary practice to look up the answer to any question the moment it occurs. It can feel like going through withdrawal when we can't find out something immediately. We are seldom offline unless by choice and the Internet, with its search engines like Baidu and Google and the information stored there, has become an external  memory source that we can access at any time. Storing information externally is nothing particularly new, even before the invention of computers. In any group relationship, people typically develop a transactive  memory, which is a combination of memory stores held directly by individuals and the memory stores they can access because they are in touch with someone who knows that information. Like linked computers that can address each other's memories, people in groups form transactive memory systems. In a recent research led by Besty Sparrow of Columbia University, researchers have explored whether having online access to search engines has become a primary transactive memory source in itself. If asked the question whether there are any countries with only one color1 in their flag, for example,do we think about flagsor immediately think to go online to find out the answer? In one experiment,the participants were asked to read 40 memorable unimportant statements of the type that they could look up online (e. g.,an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain). Then they were asked to type the statements into computer to assure memory. Half the participants believed the computer would save what was typed and the other half believed the item would be erased. After the reading and typing task, participants wrote down as many of the statements as they could remember.  It turned out that participants who believed the computer would erase what they had typed had better recall than those who regarded the computer as the memory source. The Internet has become a primary form of transactive memory , and processes of human memory are adapting to the new computing and communication technology. Just as we learn through transactive memory who knows what in our families and offices, we are learning what the computer "knows" and when we should attend to where we have stored information in our computer-based memories. The importance of the information from the Internet is almost equal to that of all the knowledge we gain from our friends and coworkers--and lose if they are out of touch. The experience of losing our Internet connection becomes more and more like losing a friend. We must always remain plugged in to know what the Internet knows. What can we learn from the passage?
Transactive memory is essential to the development of mankind. Search engines make us more curious and enthusiastic about new information. The Internet is the most important form of transactive memory. Changes in our memory processes serve as an adaptation to new technology.