Photographic memory is likely a myth, but some people have eidetic memory, which allows them to memorize visual information with high accuracy. Eidetic memory is more common in children and may be due to their tendency to memorize visually. People who appear to have photographic memory have likely trained rigorously. Actors, painters, and musicians develop memory tricks for success.
According to theories, a person with a photographic memory is able to recall scenes and events as detailed and precise images. Numerous scientific studies have suggested that photographic memory is probably purely legendary, as no evidence of truly photographic memory has ever been documented. Some people, however, have so-called eidetic memory, a related but somewhat different concept. The terms “eidetic” and “photographic” are sometimes confused, especially in popular media, and some people may refer to a photographic memory when they really mean an eidetic memory.
Proponents of the belief that a photographic memory really exists argue that some people are able to store information in the form of detailed images that can be recalled at will. A person with such a memory, for example, would be able to describe a painting in detail after seeing it once, or to recite passages from a book that she has only glimpsed. People are indeed capable of such feats, but this appears to be the result of rigorous mental training, rather than actual photographic memory.
In an eidetic memory, people memorize visual information with a high level of accuracy, and this allows them to repeat the information extensively, but usually only shortly after being exposed to it. Eidetic memory appears to be more common in children, typically waning with age, and some researchers have suggested that this may be because children are more likely to memorize information purely visually, rather than trying to describe verbally the things they see. For example, someone with an eidetic memory may look at a picture of a dog and then describe it very accurately, but if they say “dog” when they look at the picture, their level of recall appears to have decreased.
In the case of individuals who have eidetic memory, they appear to memorize information in fundamentally different ways which facilitate a very high level of recall. This type of memory is not exactly the same thing as the famous “photographic memory” that periodically appears in popular media, also because photographic memories are often attributed to adults and children are actually more likely to have an eidetic memory.
Numerous people throughout history have demonstrated an amazing ability to memorize things, from the lines of hundreds of plays to the details of visual scenes that they can later reproduce on a canvas. These individuals are sometimes said to have photographic memories, but the truth is that they have probably trained over the years. For professionals working in fields where a good memory is crucial, such as actors, painters and musicians, the development of various memory tricks is vital to success, and these feats of memorization have been achieved through hard work and dedication, not the magic of memory.
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