Our recollections are often less detailed and less reliable than we would like. New research helps explain why memory fails us—and how we can make better use of it.
Savor the Moment
When taking a picture, we outsource our memory to the camera. “New technology lends itself to just collecting lots of photos,” says Fairfield University psychologist Linda Henkel, “not taking the time to look at them.” Worse, the quality of our memories may suffer: In a Fairfield study, participants who photographed objects in a museum were less able to recall details about them than those who simply observed them. Only when photo takers used the zoom function, focusing on specific details, did they remember as well as the rest of the group.
Break Out of Your Bubble
When our eyeballs are glued to our screens or other engrossing objects, we blank out much of the world around us. Psychologists call this inattentional blindness. Ira Hyman, a psychologist at Western Washington University, tested peoples’ memory of such unusual sights as a unicycling clown and money hanging from a tree. Those walking in pairs were the most likely to remember seeing these anomalies, which suggests that being engaged with other people enhances our awareness. The least observant? People using their cell phones.
Don’t Trust a Sleepy Brain
The power of suggestion can lead us to remember seeing things we didn’t. It’s even worse after an all-nighter, a study in Psychological Science shows. Participants learned about a theft through reports and photos. Later, they were fed false narratives contradicting what they had seen. When questioned, those who were sleep-deprived during the initial learning phase mixed up the original details with the false ones. Such results should lead us to scrutinize our memories, says coauthor Steven Frenda, “especially when accuracy is really important.”
Source:https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201501/memory-bombs