Do the images we see every day influence how we remember our lives? Research on this matter often concerns how entire memories of events can be created or shaped through the use of doctored photographs of personal (Wade et al., Psychonomic bulletin & review, 9 (3), 597-603, 2002) and public events (Sacchi et al., Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21 (8), 1005-1022, 2007). Although this paradigm has yielded insights into false memory production, it may underestimate the extent to which photographs can bias or distort memory in a subtler manner (i.e., without the use of doctored photographs or suggestion). In Experiments 1 (N = 95) and 2 (N = 186) of the present study, we examined whether the mere presence of generic images, typical of stock photography, could influence aspects of our memories. Given the parallel between autobiographical remembering and forecasting (Berntsen & Bohn, Memory & Cognition, 38(3), 265-278, 2010), we also examined (Experiment 3: N=204) how such images would influence future autobiographical judgments. Specifically, three experiments investigated whether photographs would bias autobiographical judgments for either quantitative (e.g., How many movies have you seen in the past year?) or affective (e.g., How enjoyable do you think your next date will be?) aspects of events in everyday life. We found that photographs reliably influenced judgments related to quantitative aspects of autobiographical events. Moreover, though less robustly, there was an indication that these photos could bias our affective construal of such events as well. Overall, we conclude that the mere presence of generic photographs may exert an influence on the way we think about our lives to an extent previously under-recognized.

我们每天看到的图像会影响我们对生活的记忆吗？对这个问题的研究通常涉及如何通过使用篡改过的个人照片（Wade 等人，Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 9 (3), 597-603, 2002）和公共事件（ Sacchi 等人，应用认知心理学, 21 (8), 1005-1022, 2007)。尽管这种范式已经深入了解了错误记忆的产生，但它可能低估了照片以更微妙的方式（即，不使用篡改照片或建议）偏向或扭曲记忆的程度。在本研究的实验 1 (N = 95) 和 2 (N = 186) 中，我们检查了仅存在普通图像（典型的股票摄影）是否会影响我们记忆的各个方面。鉴于自传体记忆和预测之间的相似性（Berntsen & Bohn，Memory & Cognition，38(3), 265-278, 2010)，我们还研究了（实验 3：N=204）这些图像如何影响未来的自传判断。具体而言，三个实验调查了照片是否会在定量（例如，您在过去一年中看过多少部电影？）或情感（例如，您认为下一次约会会多么愉快？) 日常生活中事件的各个方面。我们发现照片可靠地影响了与自传事件的定量方面相关的判断。此外，尽管不那么稳健，但有迹象表明，这些照片也会使我们对此类事件的情感解释产生偏差。总的来说，我们得出的结论是，普通照片的存在可能会对我们思考生活的方式产生以前未被充分认识的影响。