Live in the moment! How taking that special photo can affect your memory

MANY people take photos as a way of preserving important moments – whether it be a birthday, a special holiday or a concert.

But snapping away might actually impair your memory of the event, as you rely on the camera to remember the information for you.

Researchers from Binghamton University in New York conducted a series of experiments involving 525 people.

Participants were shown various pieces of artwork and were asked to photograph some of the pieces using a camera phone, while simply observing others.

After a break, they completed a memory test for the artwork that they had viewed.

Over four experiments, the researchers found that photographed art was remembered more poorly than art that was just viewed.

Results, published in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, found this was true after both a short 20-minute break and a longer 48-hour delay between viewing and recall.

The study reads: ‘Our results showed general memory impairments for photographed art.

‘Artwork that was photographed was less likely to be accurately recognised.

‘We also found that the negative effect of photo taking... was longlasting, with a deficit apparent at both short and long delays.

‘This finding is noteworthy because it more closely resembles everyday photo-taking in which photos are taken to “remember” an event in the future rather than immediately.’

The researchers suggest it is possible that simply completing two tasks at once – viewing and photographing – can lead to the impairment in memory for photographed items.