Does selfie taking affect personal memory?
, Selfies, Memory And Self-esteem
Logging our lives
Film photography as a tool for remembering key experiences
• By the early 1970s, almost every American and western European household owned a
camera.
• Individuals articulated their connections to, and initiation into, clans and groups,
emphasizing ritualized moments of aging and of coming of age.
• Through photographs, each family constructs a portrait chronicle of itself – a portable kit of
images that bears witness to its connectedness.
• Pictures rarely shared outside of the family (restricted to photo albums).
Digital photography as a tool for communicating + identity formation
• The shift from film to digital has changed why we take photos and how we use them.
• Research suggests that the primary role of photography has shifted from commemorating
special events and remembering family life, to a way of communicating to our peers,
forming our own identity, and bolstering social bonds.
• People are taking photos – not to serve as a later memory cue, but rather to say this is how
I’m feeling right here, right now.
• Snapchat users are taking photos to communicate, rather than to remember.
Taking photos can impair your ability to recall memories
• We take hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures on holiday.
Could taking too many photos ruin our memories?
• Henkel (2014) took students on a museum tour and asked them to take photos of certain
works of art – and only observe art in others.
• When they were tested the next day, students were less able to remember details of objects
that they had photographed (“photo-taking impairment effect”).
• Interestingly, the impairment effect was diminished when students were asked to zoom in
on a particular aspect of an object.
• The extra effort and focus required to zoom in aids memory processes (sustains attention).
, Selfies, Memory And Self-esteem
Logging our lives
Film photography as a tool for remembering key experiences
• By the early 1970s, almost every American and western European household owned a
camera.
• Individuals articulated their connections to, and initiation into, clans and groups,
emphasizing ritualized moments of aging and of coming of age.
• Through photographs, each family constructs a portrait chronicle of itself – a portable kit of
images that bears witness to its connectedness.
• Pictures rarely shared outside of the family (restricted to photo albums).
Digital photography as a tool for communicating + identity formation
• The shift from film to digital has changed why we take photos and how we use them.
• Research suggests that the primary role of photography has shifted from commemorating
special events and remembering family life, to a way of communicating to our peers,
forming our own identity, and bolstering social bonds.
• People are taking photos – not to serve as a later memory cue, but rather to say this is how
I’m feeling right here, right now.
• Snapchat users are taking photos to communicate, rather than to remember.
Taking photos can impair your ability to recall memories
• We take hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures on holiday.
Could taking too many photos ruin our memories?
• Henkel (2014) took students on a museum tour and asked them to take photos of certain
works of art – and only observe art in others.
• When they were tested the next day, students were less able to remember details of objects
that they had photographed (“photo-taking impairment effect”).
• Interestingly, the impairment effect was diminished when students were asked to zoom in
on a particular aspect of an object.
• The extra effort and focus required to zoom in aids memory processes (sustains attention).
