TY - JOUR AU - Boldt, Annika AU - Gilbert, Sam J. PY - 2019 DA - 2019/12/02 TI - Confidence guides spontaneous cognitive offloading JO - Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications SP - 45 VL - 4 IS - 1 AB - Cognitive offloading is the use of physical action to reduce the cognitive demands of a task. Everyday memory relies heavily on this practice; for example, when we write down to-be-remembered information or use diaries, alerts, and reminders to trigger delayed intentions. A key goal of recent research has been to investigate the processes that trigger cognitive offloading. This research has demonstrated that individuals decide whether or not to offload based on a potentially erroneous metacognitive evaluation of their mental abilities. Therefore, improving the accuracy of metacognitive evaluations may help to optimise offloading behaviour. However, previous studies typically measure participants’ use of an explicitly instructed offloading strategy, in contrast to everyday life where offloading strategies must often be generated spontaneously. SN - 2365-7464 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-019-0195-y DO - 10.1186/s41235-019-0195-y ID - Boldt2019 ER -