Taking screenshots makes you more likely to forget information
Snapping a photo or taking a screenshot to remember something? According to recent cognitive research from Binghamton University's Psychology Department, the practice may make you more likely to forget.
Taking photos or screenshots to remember something may actually make you more likely to forget, according to recent cognitive research from Binghamton University's Psychology Department. The study, led by doctoral candidate Sophia Fabrizio and published in the journal Memory & Cognition, found that capturing images during an experience can degrade memory of the information or event, especially if the photos are not reviewed later.
This phenomenon, known as the photo-taking impairment effect, occurs even when people are aware that their images will be deleted. Researchers suggest that taking a photo or screenshot requires cognitive resources that could otherwise be used for encoding information into memory, or that the act of capturing images may cause people to disengage from the experience.
The best way to remember information is still to take notes by hand, as this processing effort may enhance memory retention.
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