Short-term Internet search using makes people rely on search engines when facing unknown issues

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 4; p. e0176325
• Main Authors: Wang, Yifan, Wu, Lingdan, Luo, Liang, Zhang, Yifen, Dong, Guangheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 25.04.2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Activation; Adults; Advertisements; Age; Anterior cingulate cortex; Anxiety; Attention; Automatic control; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain; Brain mapping; Brain research; Circuits; Cocaine; Cognitive ability; Colleges & universities; Computational neuroscience; Computer and Information Sciences; Computer applications; Correlation; Cortex (insular); Decision making; Decision Making - physiology; Disorders; Distributed processing; Drug addiction; Engines; Entrepreneurs; Experiments; Eye (anatomy); Female; Females; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Hunger; Information Storage and Retrieval; Internet; Inventions; Inventories; Learning; Learning - physiology; Longitudinal studies; Male; Males; Medicine and Health Sciences; Memory; Mental disorders; Neostriatum; Nervous system; Neural networks; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Object recognition; Older people; Organs; Psychiatry; Psychology; Public health; Recall; Reinforcement; Research and Analysis Methods; Search Engine; Search engines; Short term; Speech; Studies; Territory; Training; Visual cortex; Visual perception; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176325

The Internet search engines, which have powerful search/sort functions and ease of use features, have become an indispensable tool for many individuals. The current study is to test whether the short-term Internet search training can make people more dependent on it. Thirty-one subjects out of forty subjects completed the search training study which included a pre-test, a six-day's training of Internet search, and a post-test. During the pre- and post- tests, subjects were asked to search online the answers to 40 unusual questions, remember the answers and recall them in the scanner. Un-learned questions were randomly presented at the recalling stage in order to elicited search impulse. Comparing to the pre-test, subjects in the post-test reported higher impulse to use search engines to answer un-learned questions. Consistently, subjects showed higher brain activations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex in the post-test than in the pre-test. In addition, there were significant positive correlations self-reported search impulse and brain responses in the frontal areas. The results suggest that a simple six-day's Internet search training can make people dependent on the search tools when facing unknown issues. People are easily dependent on the Internet search engines.