Photography was once an expensive , laborious ordeal reserved for life's greatest milestones . Now , the only apparent cost to taking infinite photos of something as common as a meal is the space on your hard drive and your dining companion's patience . But is there another cost , a deeper cost , to documenting a life experience instead of simply enjoying it ? " You hear that you shouldn't take all these photos and interrupt the experience , and it's bad for you , and we're not living in the present moment ," says Kristin Diehl , associate professor of marketing at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business . Diehl and her fellow researchers wanted to find out if that was true , so they embarked on a series of nine experiments in the lab and in the field testing people's enjoyment in the presence or absence of a camera . The results , published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , surprised them . Taking photos actually makes people enjoy what they're doing more , not less . " What we find is you actually look at the world slightly differently , because you're looking for things you want to capture , that you may want to hang onto ," Diehl explains . " That gets people more engaged in the experience , and they tend to enjoy it more ." Take sightseeing . In one experiment , nearly 200 participants boarded a double - decker bus for a tour of Philadelphia . Both bus tours forbade the use of cell phones but one tour provided digital cameras and encouraged people to take photos . The people who took photos enjoyed the experience significantly more , and said they were more engaged , than those who didn't . Snapping a photo directs attention , which heightens the pleasure you get from whatever you're looking at , Diehl says . It works for things as boring as archaeological (考古的) museums , where people were given eye - tracking glasses and instructed either to take photos or not . " People look longer at things they want to photograph ," Diehl says . They report liking the exhibits more , too . To the relief of Instagrammers ( Instagram 用户) everywhere , it can even make meals more enjoyable . When people were encouraged to take at least three photos while they ate lunch , they were more immersed in their meals than those who weren't told to take photos . Was it the satisfying click of the camera ? The physical act of the snap ? No , they found ; just the act of planning to take a photo — and not actually taking it — had the same joy - boosting effect . " If you want to take mental photos , that works the same way ," Diehl says . " Thinking about what you would want to photograph also gets you more engaged ." 51. What does the author say about photo - taking in the past ? A ) It was a painstaking effort for recording life's major events . B ) It was a luxury that only a few wealthy people could enjoy . C ) It was a good way to preserve one's precious images . D ) It was a skill that required lots of practice to master . 52. Kristin Diehl conducted a series of experiments on photo - taking to find out _______. A ) what kind of pleasure it would actually bring to photo - takers B ) whether people enjoyed it when they did sightseeing C ) how it could help to enrich people's life experiences D ) whether it prevented people enjoying what they were doing 53. What do the results of Diehl's experiments show about people taking pictures ? A ) They are distracted from what they are doing . B ) They can better remember what they see or do . C ) They are more absorbed in what catches their eye . D ) They can have a better understanding of the world . 54. What is found about museum visitors with the aid of eye - tracking glasses ? A ) They come out with better photographs of the exhibits . B ) They focus more on the exhibits when taking pictures . C ) They have a better view of what are on display . D ) They follow the historical events more easily .