Does AI Make Students Lazy? Cognitive Offloading Explained Quiz

Answers and explanations appear as you take the quiz.

1. How did Risko and Gilbert define cognitive offloading?
   • Forgetting information on purpose
   • Using physical action to reduce the mental effort a task takes
   • Letting teachers grade assignments automatically
   • Studying only with digital tools
2. What are 'desirable difficulties' in Bjork's sense?
   • Tasks that are too hard to finish
   • Tests designed to fail students
   • Study methods that feel harder but improve long-term retention
   • Difficulties caused by poor software
3. What did Bastani and colleagues find for students using a plain chatbot during math practice?
   • They did better during practice but worse on later exams without AI
   • They did worse during practice and on exams
   • They showed no difference at any point
   • They did better on both practice and later exams
4. How does the guide describe the 2025 MIT Media Lab preprint?
   • As definitive proof that AI damages the brain
   • As a large peer-reviewed trial with thousands of participants
   • As a study showing AI improves memory
   • As a small study, not peer-reviewed when first reported, that headlines overstated
5. According to the guide, when is AI most likely to hurt learning?
   • When it formats a bibliography
   • When it replaces the specific skill the student is supposed to be learning
   • When it quizzes the student
   • When it is used after the student makes an attempt
6. Why can reading a clear AI explanation create a false sense of understanding?
   • Because AI explanations are always wrong
   • Because reading is slower than listening
   • Because text that is easy to read feels like understanding even when you can't reproduce it
   • Because students skip the explanation
7. What practical rule does the guide recommend?
   • Attempt first, consult second
   • Consult first, attempt never
   • Use AI only on weekends
   • Avoid AI entirely
8. What did Sparrow and colleagues report in 2011 about internet search?
   • Search engines improved long-term memory for facts
   • People stopped using search when given the choice
   • Search had no measurable effect on memory
   • People who expect to look information up later remember where to find it better than the information itself