Are cameraphones ruining your memory? Researchers warn we are becoming unable to live in the moment
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Experts have warned that the obsession with recording and sharing every moment could be having an adverse effect on our memories.
One psychologist has claimed people are becoming increasingly unable to live in the moment.
They say the phenomenon is 'kind of a loss'.
Psychologist's say that by recording moments rather than experiencing them can mean we are less likely to remember them.
HOW THE WEB REPLACES MEMORY
Researchers from Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University in the U.S. recently found that many people now use the internet in place of a memory.
They claimed that when someone wants to know something they now use the Internet as an 'external memory' just as computers use an external hard drive.
The study continued that we are now so reliant on smartphones and laptops, we go into 'withdrawal when we can't find out something immediately'.
Maryanne Garry, a psychology professor at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, is studying the effects of photography on our childhood memories.
'I think that the problem is that people are giving away being in the moment,' she told NPR.
'Then they've got a thousand photos, and then they just dump the photos somewhere and don't really look at them very much, 'cause it's too difficult to tag them and organize them.
'That seems to me to be a kind of loss.
'The devices is only going to capture so much.'
From children's birthdays to that long-awaited family holiday, we all want to remember those cherished moments with a photograph.
But if you're one of those people who can't stop snapping, beware – you could end up forgetting it all in a flash.
A previous study found that taking too many photos may prevent us from forming detailed memories.
Researchers led a group of students around a museum and asked them to either photograph or try to remember certain works of art and historical exhibits.
The next day, their memory was tested.
It showed they were worse at recognising objects they had photographed than those they had only looked at.
They were also poorer at recalling details of the objects they had taken pictures of.
Tourists take pictures at the Louvre, Paris as researchers say taking pictures worsens memory
Dr Linda Henkel, who conducted the study at Fairfield University in Connecticut, said: 'People so often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly.
When people rely on technology to remember for them, it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences.'
Previous studies have suggested that reviewing old photos can help us remember, but only if we spend long enough doing it.
'In order to remember, we have to access and interact with the photos, rather than just amass them,' said Dr Henkel.
The study is published in the journal Psychological Science.
Put the internet to work for you.
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