Comparing functions of and recollection with recently taken and recently deleted smartphone camera photos

Abstract

The current study examined why people take and delete photos with smartphone cameras, and participants' recollective experiences with saved and deleted photos. Two mixed‐methods surveys asked undergraduates (Study 1) and an international online sample (Study 2) to review both recently taken and recently deleted photos from their smartphones' photo album or trash bin. Participants recollected the photographed events for both types of photos and rated the quality of their recollections. Events recollected with saved photos were remembered more vividly, positively, and emotionally intensely compared to recollection with deleted photos. Participants also gave short responses about why they originally took both types of photos, as well as why they had deleted the recently deleted photos. Consistent with prior work, different photo‐taking goals were associated with different recollective experiences, especially for photos taken as mementos compared to photos taken to offload information.

Special issue of applied cognitive psychology: Rethinking cognition in a digital environment

“…Taking a similarly functional approach to the use of memory technologies in the wild, Soares examined the phenomenological character of memories cued by saved or deleted photographs, taken from participants' smartphones. In line with Hutmacher et al, Soares (2023) suggests that the use of memory technologies such as one's iPhone photo gallery can be driven by a variety of goals. For example, digital photos can be used towards goals ranging from temporarily recording where one's car is parked to composing a photograph during a special experience with the intent of later being able to cue vibrant reminiscence of that experience.…”

Photo age: Temporal preferences for external memory across the lifespan

“…In 2015, participants in an online survey reported taking an average of 2.7 photos per day (Finley et al 2018). In 2019 surveys, university undergraduates reported taking an average of 3.4–3.9 photos per day (Soares and Storm 2022b) and in a similar survey in 2021 that average rose to 9.0 photos per day (Soares 2023). Though the number of photos taken by each person per day may vary widely, photo-taking seems to be an activity that many smartphone users engage in daily.…”

“…Photos are often used to help cue recollection of autobiographical memories of personal experiences. Indeed, participants in surveys and interviews frequently report taking photos with the intention of remembering personal experiences (e.g., Finley et al 2018; Soares 2023; Soares and Storm 2022b; Van House 2011). Some have even argued that people interact with photos as physically embodied representations of memories (van den Hoven et al 2021).…”

Thinking in the digital age: Everyday cognition and the dawn of a new age of metacognition research

“…The special issue captures this diversity well. For example, Soares (2023) asked individuals to complete a series of questions based on photos they had recently taken or recently deleted. For example, individuals were asked about their goals for the photo (e.g., “Why did you take this photo?”) and their recollective experience of the photographed event (e.g., in a first vs. third person perspective, the extent to which they re‐experienced sensory aspects of the event).…”

“…The methods used to provide these rich descriptions, however, are limited in the terms of the causal inferences they can support. For instance, as Soares (2023) notes, while they documented several interesting differences in the recollective experiences associated with recently saved and deleted pictures, the photos used were participant's actual photos and therefore, were self‐selected into being recently saved or deleted (i.e., rather than being randomly assigned to be saved or deleted). Thus, the differences in recollective experience might be driven by any number of other unindexed factors.…”