Smartphone users who obsess with taking photographs aren't making great memories of their experiences in real-life, a study conducted by psychological researchers in Dartmouth College has revealed.
The researchers, who published their findings in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, said that smartphone use often becomes a "giant source of distraction" in today's digital society. The experts also learned that those who don't rely so much on their device to capture the moment end up having a much clearer memory of the real experience.
In conducting their experiment, the researchers pooled hundreds of participants in two groups for a tour of the Stanford Memorial Church. The experts chose this site because the building has an impressive and unforgettable structure.
The entrance alone shows a massive painting of Jesus in the gate of heaven and filled with palm trees. The inside of the church features colorful stained glass windows and several paintings.
The researchers asked one group to take a tour using iPods with cameras, while another group had no gadgets. After a week, the participants answered a quiz that detailed what they recalled about the tour. Those who took hundreds of photos using the smart devices answered 6 of 10 questions correctly, while those who simply relied on their eyes and their memories answered 7 out of the 10 questions correctly.
"These findings suggest that using media may prevent people from remembering the very events they are attempting to preserve," study researcher head Emma Templeton stated.
It's not the first study to suggest that smartphone use has affected people's memory retention and cognition. Alixandra Barash of New York University supported the new findings after doing a study among Instagrammers during Christmas. According to the Daily Mail, she learned that people who rely on third-hand memories, as in those who recall a holiday through images they see on Instagram, had less enthusiasm for Christmas than those who had first-hand experiences.
