Taking a photo or screenshot to help remember something may actually make it harder to recall later, according to cognitive research from Binghamton University.
Researchers from the university’s Department of Psychology found that capturing information digitally can impair memory for the material or experience, particularly when people do not review the images afterward. The study, titled “Digital amnesia: The aftermath of a screenshot,” was published in the journal Memory & Cognition.
The phenomenon is known as the photo-taking impairment effect. Previous studies have found that photographing an experience can weaken memory for what was photographed. However, reviewing photographs later and using them as cues to retrieve memories may improve long-term retention.
The problem is that people often take far more images than they ever review. Estimates suggest that the average person takes around 20 photos a day, while a typical smartphone contains roughly 2,000 stored images.
“Unless you are actively reviewing those images as cues for elaborative memory retrieval, it is unlikely to benefit you,” said Sophia Fabrizio, a Binghamton University doctoral candidate and lead author of the study.
Interestingly, previous research has found that memory may not be impaired when images are captured automatically by wearable cameras. This suggests that the problem may lie not simply in knowing that an experience is being recorded, but in the act of taking the photo or screenshot itself.
Binghamton researchers conducted seven experiments to investigate this effect. Participants captured images of artwork and were later tested on their memory. Some experiments also involved mathematical problems to determine whether taking screenshots or photographs diverted cognitive resources.
The researchers found no clear memory benefits from capturing images. Instead, participants generally showed poorer memory for the material they had photographed or screenshotted.
Why might screenshots affect memory?The researchers considered several possible explanations.
One is divided attention. Taking a photograph or screenshot requires attention and cognitive resources that might otherwise be used to process and store information in memory. However, the researchers believe divided attention alone cannot fully explain the effect. Similar memory problems were observed even when participants had additional time to look at the artwork or when the image-capture task was made easier.
Another explanation is cognitive offloading. When people know information is being stored externally, they may unconsciously reduce the effort they devote to remembering it themselves. This frees up mental resources for other tasks or aspects of an experience.
However, this explanation also has limitations. Previous research found that memory could remain impaired even when participants knew their photographs would be immediately deleted. In screenshot experiments, people were also less likely to remember whether they had captured an image or simply viewed it, and their memory for the artwork itself was poorer when they had taken a screenshot.
A third possibility is attentional disengagement. Taking a photo or screenshot may cause people to unconsciously distance themselves from the experience they are observing.
This effect may extend beyond the information that was actually captured. For example, participants had more difficulty remembering whether an artwork had been screenshotted or simply viewed. Earlier research conducted in museums also found poorer memory for the location of photographed artworks.
The researchers suggest that this unconscious detachment may be connected to the longstanding association between taking pictures and the ability to store information externally.
Writing things down may be betterFor people who want to remember information, researchers suggest a more traditional approach: put down the phone and use pen and paper.
Writing something down, such as taking notes during a lecture, requires people to process and organize information rather than simply record it. They have to identify important points, condense them, and connect different ideas.
This mental effort is sometimes described as “desirable difficulty”—a certain amount of effort during learning can strengthen memory.
However, writing is not always beneficial. It can also become a form of cognitive offloading. For example, after adding a friend’s birthday to a calendar and setting a reminder, a person may stop remembering the date themselves.
The same principle applies to screenshots. Taking a small number of deliberate screenshots and reviewing them later may support memory, much like a reminder in a calendar. But taking screenshots frequently and allowing them to accumulate without ever reviewing them may have the opposite effect.
The researchers conclude that repeatedly pressing a button to capture information may actually weaken memory for both the captured material and, potentially, the broader experience surrounding it.
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