The concept of a photographic memory has a stronghold on the popular imagination. Many people claim to have known someone with such a memory. But does photographic memory actually exist?
It was not until the first half of the 19th century that the first photographic process was developed. There was a technique that could freeze moments in time and capture events, scenes, and faces in perfect detail. Somehow, we ended up with the notion that people with superior memory abilities might be able to capture material photographically – not just the brief after-images experienced in sensory memory, but an enduring and complete memory of scenes or whole pages of books.
The discovery of eidetic memory
Modern research provides almost no evidence of photographic memory ability in adults. However, a form of photographic memory called eidetic memory – an ability to hold strong visual images in the mind – may have been found in young children. Two US psychologists, Lyn, and Ralph Haber, have claimed that about eight percent of elementary school-age children possessed eidetic memory. Such children were apparently able to describe a picture previously presented to them in exact detail as if it were still in front of them. A later study suggested that up to half of all five-year-olds may have some degree of eidetic memory. Eidetic ability fades as we get older, and it is extremely rare after adolescence, although there are reports of amazing eidetic feats in adults. One such case was an artist referred to as Elizabeth, who was studied by Harvard psychologists Stromeyer and Psotka in 1970. Elizabeth was able to project detailed mental images onto canvas and to work with them as if they were really there. She could memorize a page of poetry in a foreign language and write it out without hesitation, working from the bottom line to the top.
Elizabeth also successfully passed supremely difficult dot pattern tests (see below). She did, however, require some time scanning the material to achieve this. Following the early reports of her abilities, Elizabeth withdrew from further testing, and subsequent attempts to find anyone who could pass the dot tests were unsuccessful.
An eye for detail
Another person with remarkable visual memory is Stephen Wilts hire, an artist whose superior visuospatial skill enables him to recall what he has seen in astonishing detail. Stephen can sketch complex scenes after view ing them for only a relatively short time. In one test of his abilities, he was flown over London in a helicopter and, a few hours later, produced a detailed and accurate aerial view of four square miles of the city.
Stephen is an autistic savant – one of perhaps a few dozen people in the world who possess an extraordinary talent alongside the intellectual disabilities associated with autism. However, although Step hen’s savant ability is remarkable, it is not a photographic memory. Similar skills might not have been so uncommon in former times: before the age of reprographics, students of art were trained to develop the skills of visual analysis and copying from memory. Driven by his passion for sketching, Stephen Wiltshire has acquired similar skills.
Incredible detail
The autistic British artist Stephen Wilt Shire has been celebrated for his exceptional memory skills, especially his ability to draw complex architectural structures in fine detail.
Storybook remembering
In a study of eidetic memory in children, young children were shown fleetingly a picture of Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat. Some could later recall the details exactly – such as how many stripes they had seen on the cat.
