Photo-taking impairs memory on perceptual and conceptual memory tests.

Does taking a photograph of an item improve or impair memory? The literature is currently mixed, with some studies showing impairments and other studies showing improvements. The current study includes four experiments that tested the hypothesis that photographs may help memory when the test is perceptually driven but may hurt memory when the test is conceptually driven. The perceptually driven test involved identifying a target among visually similar items, and the conceptually driven test involved recognizing a concept that had been previously studied. Contrary to predictions, the results showed impairment both on perceptually driven and conceptually driven tests, which were found both after a short (20 min) and long (48 h) delay between encoding at test.