People who take pictures memorize fewer details than those who look only with their eyes.
- The difference in memorization was confirmed after a short (20 minutes) and long (48 hours) delay between visualization and recall.
- For the researchers, this is explained by the fact that taking photos constantly alters the memory of events by forcing us to concentrate on the act of taking photos rather than on the object itself.
This is a study that may change your habits for the next vacation. In the age of social networks, and in particular Instagram, where it is in good taste to photograph everything, American researchers from the New York University of Binghamton affirm that to take advantage of the present moment, it is better to capture the moment with his eyes than with his camera. In a study published on February 8 in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognitionthey found that those who just look with their eyes memorize the details of what they observe better.
Photographing at the expense of one’s memory
Does taking a picture of an object improve or impair memory? “The literature is currently mixed, with some studies showing impairments and other studies showing improvementsanswer the authors of the study. It is possible that the simple performance of two tasks at the same time (visualization and photography) leads to an impairment of the memory of the photographed objects.”
They conducted a series of experiments to test the recollection of 525 volunteers and showed them various works of art, including paintings, sketches and photographs. They must have photographed some of these works and simply observed the others. Next, they conducted tests that allowed the researchers to examine their perceptual memory, which refers to particular details and calculates the similarity of one object to another, and conceptual, which is based on ideas and concepts for remembering an object based on its action.
Focus on the photographic act rather than the work
After five experiments, the researchers found that the photographed work is less well memorized than that which was looked at only with the eyes. This result was confirmed after a short (20 minutes) and long (48 hours) delay between visualization and recall. For them, this is explained by the fact that taking photos constantly alters the memory of events by forcing us to concentrate on the act of taking photos rather than on the work itself.
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