Photographic memory, myth or reality?

Photographic memory, also called eidietic or hieratic memory, consists of the ability to encode visual or written information, visually and with a high level of detail. Whoever has it, processes the image by scanning it with their eyes in detail and, hours later, can remember it as if it were still in front of them. It is estimated that approximately only 1% of the population has this ability. However, its real existence is not very clear.

There are those who argue that this ability is only possessed by certain boys or girls, but once they grow up, it disappears. Either due to lack of training and stimulation, or because in adults tend to encode in verbal and visual modality (not photographic). Others say that it is directly a myth, since the testimonies always come from those who directly possess the skill instead of cognitive tests and objective evaluations.

What does it consist of?

It is called photographic memory because the material to be memorized is captured as if it were an image. That is, the person who has a high eidetic memory remembers everything that appeared in the image or page of a book, exactly as it was located.

It could also be applied to auditory stimuli. In this case, the melody or sounds would be encoded in memory as an image. The extraordinary thing about this type of memory is that the level of detail is astonishing. For example, remembering punctuation marks from an entire page.

Although it has aroused the interest of scientists, it has not yet been possible to truly determine its existence or clarify why it occurs. In fact, It seems that few people enjoy it, being more present in children, although they would lose it with the years.

Even so, the terms visual memory and eidietic memory should not be confused. The first is the ability to memorize through visual stimuli and the last places special emphasis on the level of detail that is able to be retained.

With this context, there are many doubts about its real existence. The limited evidence there is in this regard advocates more for a combination of several skills.

Thus, the ability to have a material accurately would be given by a good visual memory, an extraordinary capacity, familiarity with the material, effort and even mnemonic strategies. In fact, most people who have it indicate that they have had it all their lives and have perfected it through practice.

The Loci method

Whoever possesses this ability usually stands out publicly for one of his achievements: painting a map of Rome from memory having enjoyed aerial views on a single occasion, remembering every day of life since childhood or memorizing every page of more than 9,000 books. Thus, very few of them reveal what they really do to reach that result.

Only Some of these exceptional minds have told their tricks and many of them agree on the Loci method., also known as the palace of memories. This method is a useful technique based on spatial memory. According to psychologists who are experts in memory, the strongest memories are associated with an image, a place and/or emotions. Therefore, it is more likely to remember something if we are able to remember where it happened, for example.

The Loci method then consists of imagining an itinerary that runs through a number of familiar places and in which the concepts are found as objects placed in that environment. That is, imagine each element as if it were a vase, painting or plant.

Thus, as you go through the journey when it comes to recovering that memory, they would appear on their own. This method, used since the 5th century BC, has been studied in prestigious universities and they have found that it helps considerably improve memory.

So can I train her?

Taking all this into account, yes. Photographic memory can be trained. You can use the Loci method or other strategies more adapted to each person. But what researchers say so far is that With good technique, learning and training you can obtain remarkable results..

In short, constant practice and effort are the key to many skills, and memory is one of them. Nevertheless, There are people who, from a very young age, already show greater performance. of certain cognitive abilities. But that does not imply that they end up standing out, nor that if you do not have a base you cannot reach those levels.

You might be interested…