Modern technology allows people to easily doctor their own photos (e.g., cropping out unwanted objects, applying color-changing filters). We examined whether editing and reviewing photos alters people’s memory of their experiences. In three experiments, participants photographed scenes, then edited their photos. In Experiment 1 (n = 54), editing photos by cropping out objects or applying a grayscale filter did not impact memory for the original experience. In Experiment 2 (n = 55), cropping objects from photos focused attention on the remaining objects, thereby increasing memory for the intact objects regardless of whether they were reviewed or not. Reviewing unedited photos where details were intact increased memory. In Experiment 3 (n = 39), applying a grayscale filter to photos did not impact memory for the color and content of the original scene, but reviewing photos improved recognition memory and memory for the scene’s color and content. Depending on the type of edit and cognitive demands, reviewing or editing photos can shape what is remembered.

现代技术使人们可以轻松地篡改自己的照片（例如，裁剪出不需要的物体，应用变色滤镜）。我们研究了编辑和查看照片是否会改变人们对他们的经历的记忆。在三个实验中，参与者拍摄了场景，然后编辑了他们的照片。在实验1（n  = 54）中，通过裁剪对象或应用灰度滤镜来编辑照片不会影响原始体验的存储。在实验2（n  = 55）中，从照片中裁剪对象将注意力集中在其余对象上，从而增加了完整对象的存储空间，无论是否对其进行了检查。查看完好无损的未经编辑的照片可增加内存。在实验3（n = 39），对照片应用灰度滤镜不会影响原始场景的颜色和内容的记忆，但是查看照片可以改善识别记忆以及场景的颜色和内容的记忆。根据编辑类型和认知需求，查看或编辑照片可以塑造出所记住的内容。