Re-Post: Do You Have A Photographic Memory?
Throughout summer 2024, we’re reposting previous blogs that showcase the range of topics in psychology. We’ll return to posting new content in August, 2024.
By McKayla Kurtz
In today’s pop culture, psychological phenomena are often misrepresented or inaccurately characterized. One such phenomenon is the idea of a photographic memory. Character with photographic memories are portrayed in popular television series such as Grey’s Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, and Criminal Minds. In these series, characters are shown to be memorizing entire books or documents and are able to store the information they saw away in their memory. Days or even months later, these characters are able to recall word-for word what they read or saw. These characters are portrayed to have a photographic memory or, the more realistic equivalent, an eidetic memory, which is the ability to remember images in vivid detail. These two perceptual phenomena are mistakenly used interchangeably but in actuality are different.
The photographic memory that many people are familiar with is the idea that a person can read an entire book or paper one time through and remember it word for word. This ability is thought to last for an extended period of time as if it were stored in your long-term memory. Those with a photographic memory are thought to have a higher intelligence than people without a photographic memory. Although, in theory, this ability would desirable researchers argue that there is no true photographic memory, but rather people with these extraordinary memories are utilizing memory enhancement techniques or have an eidetic memory.
One may observe an extraordinary memorizer at a Memory Championship. Most of these participants do not have special memories, instead, they use memory enhancement techniques. One technique, aging back to ancient times, is the memory palace. This technique relies on one of the most important aspects of memory, visual imagery. Using the memory palace, participants associate different images within their palace with a number or name they need to remember. When it’s time to recall these numbers or names they walk through their known palace and visualize the images with their associations. This mental navigation leads to successful recall by taking advantage of the brain’s organization of spatial memory. However, people with an eidetic memory don’t rely on memory enhancement techniques to have extraordinary memories.
An eidetic memory is the ability to vividly see an image after the image is no longer present. This extraordinary ability affects 2-10% of the population and is most common among children who have autism or are on the autism spectrum. A person can be tested to see if they have an eidetic memory through the Picture Elicitation Method. In this test, an image that is unfamiliar to the test-taker is displayed in front of them for 30 seconds. After the 30 seconds has elapsed, the image is taken away and the test-taker is asked to explain what they saw. If the person is able to see the image in great detail, as if it were still present, they would be classified as having an eidetic memory and be known as an eidetiker. An eidetiker will also describe the image in present tense as if they are still observing the original picture. This ability usually lasts between 30 seconds to a few minutes and then fades away part by part, involuntarily. Eidetikers are also able to make the image disappear by intentionally blinking. These images, once gone, can rarely be retrieved.
The commonly held believe that someone can have a photographic memory is false.
However, its real-life counterpart, an eidetic memory, is grounded in reality and isn’t as desirable as the fictitious photographic memory. Although eidetikers have exceptional recollection abilities, the memories are short-term and usually disappear completely.
The next time you’re watching your favorite television series that portrays a character with a photographic memory, remember the difference between a photographic and eidetic memory and educate those around you on the reality of these memory feats.
Resources
Develop perfect memory with the memory palace technique. (n.d.). Litemind. https://litemind.com/memory-palace/
Krokos, E., Plaisant, C. & Varshney, A. (2019). Virtual memory palaces: immersion aids recall. Virtual Reality 23, 1–15 (2019).
Searleman, A. (March, 2017). Is there such a thing as a photographic memory? And if so, can it be learned?https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-such-a-thing-as/.