Summary: Researchers report that taking photographs can strengthen our memory for visual details of an experience while simultaneously reducing recall for non-visual information, such as sounds.
Source: APS.
Across social media and personal photo libraries, people routinely capture moments from daily life—on the beach, in museums, at meals, or even while waiting in line. New research suggests that choosing to take photos can sharpen memory for visual aspects of those moments, but may weaken memory for auditory and other non-visual details.
The findings were published in Psychological Science.
The authors explain: “Our research shows that photo taking itself improves memory for visual aspects of an experience but can harm memory for nonvisual aspects, like auditory details.”
This study was conducted by Alixandra Barasch (New York University Stern School of Business), Kristin Diehl (USC Marshall School of Business), Jackie Silverman (The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania), and Gal Zauberman (Yale School of Management).
Prior work has proposed that cameras and online resources let people outsource memory, freeing cognitive resources while potentially reducing unaided recall. The team hypothesized that this “offloading” effect might apply to factual recall, but that deliberately photographing an experience could have a different effect—sharpening visual memory by directing attention toward what is seen.
“People often take photos with the explicit intention of remembering those moments—whether a dinner with friends, a sightseeing stop, or another meaningful event,” the researchers note.
Because most photos are rarely revisited, the researchers asked: how well do we remember moments we photograph if we never look back at the images? And does taking photos affect visual memory differently than auditory memory?
In one field study, 294 participants toured a museum exhibit of Etruscan artifacts. Participants stored personal items before the tour; some were allowed to carry a camera and were instructed to take at least ten photographs of anything they chose. During the tour, all participants listened to an accompanying audio guide. After the tour, they completed multiple-choice questions testing recognition of objects they had seen and factual recall from the audio guide.
Those who took photos recognized more of the objects visually than participants who had no camera. However, photo-takers performed worse on questions about auditory information from the audio guide compared with visitors who did not take pictures. These results indicate that taking photos can enhance visual recognition while reducing memory for sounds and other nonvisual details.
To replicate and extend these findings under controlled conditions, the researchers ran a virtual art-gallery study in which participants navigated a digital gallery on a screen. Some participants could “take” photos by clicking an on-screen button, simulating camera use. As in the museum study, participants with the ability to take pictures showed superior visual recognition and weaker auditory recall than those who could not take pictures.
The researchers examined memory for specific objects and found that photographic behavior improved visual memory even for items that were not frequently photographed. Participants who had a camera available remembered non-photographed parts of the scene better than those who did not have a camera. In other words, merely having the intention to take photos appeared to change how people attended to an experience, enhancing visual encoding broadly rather than only for items actually photographed.
Across four studies, meta-analytic results showed a consistent positive effect of photo taking on visual memory and a smaller but reliable negative effect on auditory memory. These effects emerged even for participants who believed their photos would be deleted or for those who were asked simply to “mentally take a photo.” In both cases, visual memory improved while auditory memory declined relative to participants who could not take photos.
Collectively, the experiments support the idea that photo taking does not simply outsource memory to external storage, but rather narrows and organizes attention. By funneling attention toward visual features, taking photos enhances the encoding of what we see while redirecting attention away from sounds and other nonvisual aspects of the same experience.
Funding: Anna Mikulak – APS.
Image source: Image in the public domain.
Original research: “Photographic Memory: The Effects of Volitional Photo Taking on Memory for Visual and Auditory Aspects of an Experience,” Alixandra Barasch, Kristin Diehl, Jackie Silverman, and Gal Zauberman. Published in Psychological Science, online June 26, 2017. DOI: 10.1177/0956797617694868.
Abstract
Photographic Memory: The Effects of Volitional Photo Taking on Memory for Visual and Auditory Aspects of an Experience
How does volitional photo taking affect unaided memory for visual and auditory aspects of experiences? Across one field and three laboratory studies, the authors found that, even without revisiting any photos, participants who could freely take photographs during an experience recognized more of what they saw and less of what they heard than participants who could not take photographs. Merely taking mental photos produced similar effects. These results support the idea that photo taking shifts attention toward visual aspects and away from auditory aspects of an experience. Additional findings aligned with this mechanism: participants with a camera had better recognition for aspects they photographed than for those they did not photograph, and participants who used a camera recognized non-photographed aspects better than participants without a camera did. Meta-analyses that combined all reported studies supported these conclusions.