For example, someone may be able to continue to “see” a picture they have been shown for 30 seconds, even a few minutes after the picture is removed. Eidetic memory is the ability to vividly recall an image you are exposed to, but only briefly. The idea of an eidetic memory is similar to that of a photographic memory, but the two are not exactly the same. Results from one study suggest that people with HSAM are no better at acquiring memories – they are not superior learners – but are simply better at retaining memories. Doctors have yet to understand what exactly is happening in the brains of individuals with HSAM, and tests reveal there is no particular ability that appears to underpin the condition. Their memories are exceptional, but certainly not as perfect as actual photographs. For example, they may be able to tell you what they ate for lunch on (and that it was a Saturday).

People with HSAM can recall past events in great detail, along with the exact dates when they occurred. Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) is a condition that has been identified in fewer than 100 people worldwide. And some people do have better visual memory than others. Super card sharks can memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards in less than a. Chess masters can best multiple opponents while blindfolded. Generally, we’re better at remembering what we’ve seen than what we’ve heard. Certainly, some people do have phenomenal memories. Although many people claim that they have it, we still don’t have proof that it actually exists. An Eidetiker will be able to repeat three or four times as many as the average individual.Photographic memory is the ability to recall a past scene in detail with great accuracy – just like a photograph. Here the test is to read aloud a long list of digits and ask the subject to repeat them. Occasionally one comes across an acoustic,or auditory, Eidetiker. A true Eidetiker will summon up the image and count the teeth even after several minutes or even hours have elapsed. An even simpler test is to show him a comb for a moment, then ask him how many teeth it contained. If he is a genuine Eidetiker, he will be able to describe every detail and repeat the number or the letters of the word forward and backward. The technical term for such an image remembered in vivid detail is an eidetic. A similar if not identical phenomenon is occasionally found in patients with tetany and Basedow’s disease (hyperthyroidism).A common test for eidetic imagery is to ask a subject to look briefly at a picture containing many details, including, say, a twelve-digit figure, or a long word in a language he does not know. A colloquial term for the ability to remember visual images very accurately. The images are so vivid and realistic that they are sometimes momentarily mistaken for the actual objects. In addition, adults occasionally experience a form of eidetic imagery for a short time after engaging in fatiguing activity of a monotonous nature, such as playing cards or closely studying blueprints. Some “lightning calculators” are Eidetikers who are able to keep one part of a long problem on their “mental blackboard” while working on another. The few adults who retain this ability can often perform feats of “photographic memory,” such as repeating the entire content of a newspaper page after looking at it for only a few minutes. Some “Eidetikers” claim they can even enlarge portions of the mental picture in order to see them more clearly.Eidetic imagery is found in 5 to 10 per cent of children, but usually disappears before adolescence.

They appear to “project” the image on a mental screen and are able to describe every detail as if they were still looking at the object itself.

Mental imagery, usually visual, which closely resembles actual perception.Some people are able to look at a drawing or page of print for a short time and later see it in their “mind’s eye” with amazing vividness.

Photographic memory definition