Years ago, Linda Henkel, an American scientist, was travelling at the Grand Canyon."When I was at the canyon's edge, someone came to the front, took a picture and walked away," she recalled (回忆) as she shared her travelling experiences."He didn't even look at the scenery."
Henkel is surprised at how obsessed (痴迷的) people are with taking pictures. They
take pictures before dinner, at parties and on museum tours. They believe taking pictures will help them remember the moment. However, it isn't true according to Henkel's study.
In her study, Henkel led a group of college students around a museum. She asked them to look at 15 exhibits and then to photograph 15 others. The next day,she tested the students' memory of the tour. She found that the students remembered fewer details about the exhibits that they photographed.
Henkel explained when people focus on(集中于) taking photos, they pay less attention to the event (事件) itself. As a result, they fail to remember their experiences well.
Taking pictures may not be helpful for our memory. But shouldn't reviewing(回顾) the pictures help wake up our memories? The answer is yes. However, it happens only when we spend enough time doing it.
"To remember the experiences, we have to review the photos carefully,"Henkel said. "But most people seldom spend the time looking over their digital(数字的) pictures because there are too many of them."
