A study from Binghamton University researchers suggests that the simple act of taking a screenshot may interfere with memory rather than strengthen it, challenging the assumption that saving information on a phone automatically helps people remember it later.
Binghamton University revealed the findings on Monday, describing research by its psychology department examining what happens to memory after people capture information digitally.
The Screenshot May Become a Substitute for Remembering
Binghamton University’s August 17 announcement describes the research as an investigation into the “digital capture effect,” a phenomenon in which capturing information with a digital device can affect subsequent memory.
The results did not show a consistent cognitive benefit from taking screenshots. Instead, screenshotting produced a pronounced reduction in memory compared with simply viewing the material.
The researchers’ paper concludes that screenshotting “imposes considerable memory costs without offering compensatory benefits.”
Why Taking a Picture May Backfire
The phenomenon is related to what researchers have previously called the photo-taking impairment effect — the finding that people sometimes remember photographed information less well than information they simply viewed.
Fabrizio said previous research has found that reviewing photographs can help people retrieve memories. The problem arises when people take photographs or screenshots but rarely return to them.
“Unless you are actively reviewing those images as cues for elaborative memory retrieval, it is unlikely to benefit you,” Fabrizio said in the Binghamton University announcement.
The researchers examined several possible explanations for the effect.
One is divided attention: taking a screenshot requires a person to shift some attention toward operating the device rather than fully processing what is being viewed.
Another possibility is cognitive offloading, in which people rely on an external device to store information rather than committing it to memory.
The experiments provided evidence that the effect is more complicated than simply being distracted. Researchers found memory impairment even when participants knew the captured images would immediately be deleted, suggesting that the expectation of having an external record available does not fully explain the results.
Researchers Also Found a Detachment Effect
The researchers examined another possibility called attentional disengagement.
Under that explanation, taking a photograph or screenshot may cause people to become psychologically less engaged with what they are seeing because they have shifted into the role of someone documenting the experience.
The study found that people who took screenshots were not only less likely to remember the captured artwork itself but also had poorer memory about whether they had screenshotted an image or merely viewed it.
“This extends beyond captured information to the broader context of an event,” Fabrizio said. “The poorer ‘source’ memory for whether the art pieces were screenshotted or viewed — and in the original museum study on this effect, worse memory for the location of photographed art pieces in the exhibit — provides some preliminary support for this account.”
The researchers emphasized that this is one possible explanation, rather than a definitive determination of why screenshotting affects memory.
What May Work Better Than a Screenshot?
The Binghamton researchers point to an old-fashioned alternative: writing information down.
The university said taking notes requires people to process and organize information rather than simply storing it externally. That additional mental effort is sometimes described as a “desirable difficulty” because the extra processing can strengthen learning and recall.
That does not mean photographs and screenshots are useless. The research specifically distinguishes between capturing information and later reviewing the captured material.
The researchers noted that photographs can aid long-term retention when people actually use them as cues to retrieve and elaborate on memories. The problem is that people can accumulate far more digital material than they ever revisit.
Binghamton’s announcement cited estimates that people take roughly 20 photographs a day and that the average smartphone contains approximately 2,000 photographs. Those figures are estimates cited by the researchers, not measurements taken in the experiments.
The Finding Applies Beyond Social Media
The study is particularly relevant to smartphones because screenshots have become a routine way of saving everything from messages and recipes to directions, news stories, shopping information, schedules, and social media posts.
The researchers did not conclude that taking a screenshot causes permanent memory loss or a medical condition called amnesia. Rather, their experiments found a specific memory impairment associated with digital capture under the conditions they tested.
The findings also do not mean people should stop using screenshots. Instead, the research suggests that saving something is not the same as learning or remembering it.
Provided by Dallas Express
