Background
As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) becomes embedded in university learning environments, understanding its effects on students’ higher-order cognitive development has become one of the most pressing questions in educational research.
Methods
This systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, synthesizing 89 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2024 and 2026 from Web of Science and Scopus. Narrative synthesis was employed to integrate findings across studies.
Results
GenAI’s cognitive effects were neither uniform nor unconditional: positive outcomes were documented in 40.4% of studies and mixed or conditional effects in 23.6%. ChatGPT was the predominant tool examined (n = 61, 68.5%), and mixed-methods designs were most prevalent (42.7%). Critically, 55.1% of studies employed no specified pedagogical strategy, and explicit theoretical frameworks were identified in only 25.8% of the corpus. Over-reliance emerged as the leading cognitive risk (33.7%), followed by reduced analytical autonomy (20.2%) and cognitive offloading (18.0%).
Discussion
These findings support a Dual-Mechanism Model: GenAI functions as a cognitive amplifier under structured pedagogical conditions and as a cognitive substitute under unguided use. The evidence calls on universities to anchor GenAI integration within deliberate instructional frameworks that preserve students’ cognitive agency and foreground autonomous higher-order reasoning.