How does taking photos influence your memory or experience?

anylas birdman
Aug 24, 2017 · 3 min read

Stop taking photos and look at the peak. Have you heard this interference when you were trying so hard to focus? Someone else telling you where to look, even in your head. I might be the scared tourist worried about memories in my head rather than my camera. You might miss the lion action while taking photos of laughing monkeys, it reflects preference.

Traditional theory

“Divided attention is absolutely an enemy of memory.”

This hypothesis was published by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University. It suggests, contentS of a photograph is considered less important by the brain. That’s because we can always “look it up later”. Presumably taking photos have always been considered as a contrast to the engagement with the subject or the beauty you wanna preserve. Recently an opposing perspective seems to rise against the flow. A Recent article on Photographic Memory suggested a different outcome.

We argue and empirically demonstrate that taking photos as part of an experience can, in fact, boost memory for visual content.

-Photographic Memory

One of the authors of this journal Dr.Barach was also a believer in the traditional theory of taking photos stated in an interview with The New York Times.

But as we collected more and more data over the course of five or six years, we kept finding that photo taking was actually immersing people more in experiences,

Re-Search

‘we show that photo-taking directs greater visual attention to aspects of the experience one may want to photograph.’

This logic seems legit. It takes a lot of attention or focuses toward the subject alongside non-subjects. They have conducted the research in a museum as Dr.Henkel but followed different methods. One method included a memory test between two groups with a camera and no camera condition. They also added an audio guide to the museum exhibition in both cases.

‘Participants who took photos remembered visual aspects of their experience better than participants who did not take photos, which was not the case for auditory aspects.Furthermore, participants who used a camera during their experience recognized even non photographed aspects better than participants without a camera did.’

This research suggests giving priority to one sense like vision, negatively affects other senses as hearing which may feel like an obstacle to engage for some people or events. See the complete journal if not satisfied.

You need to scan the whole to find the role model of your photo. Sounds difficult on the top to the ones using a lens cap. Taking photos require the focus of your eyes and brain, as it reflects in the camera lens.

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anylas birdman

Written by

I write to delight the bird chirping behind the wall.

The TechNews

A technology media that aims at latest technews, tech events, gadgets, smartphones, tools, innovations, startups and many more…

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