--- title: "ChatGPT vs Google for Student Research (Stadler 2024)" description: "Experiment with 91 university students: ChatGPT lowered mental effort compared with Google, but students' reasoning was of lower quality." canonical: https://research.askpoppy.ai/papers/stadler-2024-cognitive-ease-at-a-cost-llm-vs-search/ last_updated: 2026-10-21 --- ["AI brain rot" and cognitive offloading](/topics/cognitive-offloading/) # ChatGPT made research feel easier but students' reasoning was weaker than with Google **In short:** University students who researched a science question with ChatGPT felt less mental effort than students who used Google, but wrote recommendations with lower-quality reasoning and justification. Their answers were not more uniform than the Google group's. | | | | --- | --- | | Paper | [Cognitive ease at a cost: LLMs reduce mental effort but compromise depth in student scientific inquiry](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386) | | Authors | Matthias Stadler, Maria Bannert, Michael Sailer | | Published | November 2024 · Computers in Human Behavior 160 | | Study type | Randomized experiment · Peer-reviewed | | What we read | Abstract only. Summary based on the published abstract only. | | Summarized | 21 October 2026 | ## What they did Students were randomly assigned to use ChatGPT 3.5 or Google to research whether nanoparticles in sunscreen are a concern, and then write a recommendation with justifications. Researchers measured cognitive load and rated the quality and similarity of the recommendations. ## Who took part 91 university students. ## What they found - The ChatGPT group reported significantly lower cognitive load. - The ChatGPT group's recommendations showed lower-quality reasoning and argumentation. - The two groups' recommendations were about equally varied. **Effect size:** Effect sizes are not given in the abstract. ## Limitations - One task, one topic, one session, university students only. - Used ChatGPT 3.5; newer models and study modes may differ. - We read only the abstract. ## What this means for learners and parents - "That felt easy" is not a sign that you understood it. Some effort is part of learning. - If you use AI to gather information, add a step where you write your own reasoning before reading its summary, or check it against sources. ## Put it into practice (free tools) - [Prompts that keep the reasoning yours](https://learn.askpoppy.ai/prompt-check/) - [Explain your reasoning back](https://learn.askpoppy.ai/explain-it-back/) ## Citation Matthias Stadler, Maria Bannert, Michael Sailer (2024). Cognitive ease at a cost: LLMs reduce mental effort but compromise depth in student scientific inquiry. *Computers in Human Behavior 160*. ## Related summaries - [Unrestricted ChatGPT help raised practice scores but lowered exam scores](/papers/bastani-2025-generative-ai-without-guardrails-harms-learning/) · Hamsa Bastani et al., 2025 · Preregistered randomized controlled trial - ["Your Brain on ChatGPT": what the MIT essay-writing study did and didn't show](/papers/kosmyna-2025-your-brain-on-chatgpt-cognitive-debt/) · Nataliya Kosmyna et al., 2025 · Lab experiment with EEG - [With AI, people scored better on reasoning puzzles but overestimated how well they did](/papers/fernandes-2026-ai-makes-you-smarter-but-none-the-wiser/) · Daniela Fernandes et al., 2026 · Two online experiments Summary by the Ask Poppy team, AI-assisted and checked against the paper. Summarized 21 October 2026. Spotted an error? [simon@askpoppy.ai](mailto:simon@askpoppy.ai) · [Editorial policy](/about/) ```json {"@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "ChatGPT vs Google for Student Research (Stadler 2024)", "alternativeHeadline": "ChatGPT made research feel easier but students' reasoning was weaker than with Google", "description": "Experiment with 91 university students: ChatGPT lowered mental effort compared with Google, but students' reasoning was of lower quality.", "url": "https://research.askpoppy.ai/papers/stadler-2024-cognitive-ease-at-a-cost-llm-vs-search/", "mainEntityOfPage": "https://research.askpoppy.ai/papers/stadler-2024-cognitive-ease-at-a-cost-llm-vs-search/", "author": {"@type": "Organization", "name": "Ask Poppy team", "url": "https://research.askpoppy.ai/about/", "parentOrganization": {"@id": "https://askpoppy.ai/#org"}}, "publisher": {"@id": "https://askpoppy.ai/#org"}, "datePublished": "2026-10-21", "dateModified": "2026-10-21", "inLanguage": "en", "about": [{"@id": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386"}, {"@type": "Thing", "name": "\"AI brain rot\" and cognitive offloading"}], "citation": {"@id": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386"}, "isBasedOn": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386", "image": "https://research.askpoppy.ai/og/stadler-2024-cognitive-ease-at-a-cost-llm-vs-search.png", "isAccessibleForFree": true} {"@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "@id": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386", "headline": "Cognitive ease at a cost: LLMs reduce mental effort but compromise depth in student scientific inquiry", "name": "Cognitive ease at a cost: LLMs reduce mental effort but compromise depth in student scientific inquiry", "author": [{"@type": "Person", "name": "Matthias Stadler"}, {"@type": "Person", "name": "Maria Bannert"}, {"@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Sailer"}], "datePublished": "2024-11", "isPartOf": {"@type": "Periodical", "name": "Computers in Human Behavior"}, "identifier": {"@type": "PropertyValue", "propertyID": "DOI", "value": "10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386"}, "sameAs": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386"} {"@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://research.askpoppy.ai/"}, {"@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Summaries", "item": "https://research.askpoppy.ai/papers/"}, {"@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "ChatGPT vs Google for Student Research (Stadler ", "item": "https://research.askpoppy.ai/papers/stadler-2024-cognitive-ease-at-a-cost-llm-vs-search/"}]} {"@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://askpoppy.ai/#org", "name": "Ask Poppy", "legalName": "Poppy Labs AS", "url": "https://askpoppy.ai/", "logo": "https://askpoppy.ai/poppy-mark.png", "email": "hello@askpoppy.ai", "foundingLocation": "Oslo, Norway", "address": {"@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Oslo", "addressCountry": "NO"}, "founder": {"@type": "Person", "name": "Simon Dreyer"}} ```