According to a new research paper published in the United States, taking pictures of everything that you deem interesting can help you remember important moments and details but it could also have the completely opposite effect.
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The study, published earlier this week in the journal “Psychological Science”, presented the results of an interesting experiment.
The scientist Linda Henkel from the Fairfield University organized an experiment in which half of the participants were given instructions just to observe the exponents in a museum and take notes. The other half were to use their cameras to snap photos of the items in the exhibition. The memory of the participants was tested the very next day.
As it turned out the participants that took photographs were less accurate in their memory of details than those who were merely observing the items.
According to Henkel this is called the “photo-taking impairment effect” which is responsible for the negative impact that constantly taking photographs of important moments has on our lives. The reliance of technology to remember for us and the lack of need to remember the details ourselves could potentially make us less happy about our lives as well.