Memory Interruption

Research has historically been mixed when it comes to the memory impacts of taking photographs.

Some studies have hinted that our memory might be aided by the act of taking a photo when we’re capturing something perceptual, while the opposite might be true when we’re capturing and hoping to remember something conceptual.

So if we’re tested on differentiating between a variety of shapes, and then we’re tested on recognizing a previously encountered concept, taking photos to aid our recall in both cases, the theory was that photos would help us remember details in the former, more visual case, and hinder our memory formation in the latter, photograph-of-a-concept case.