Do You Have a Photographic Memory?

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I'm just curious about this. I myself don't have much of one, though I DO tend to remember things by remembering the visual of them. For example, when I study Japanese I have to write all the words down in romaji versus kanji cuz I cannot picture words in kanji. Or if I wanna remember my childhood home I start at the door and take myself through it by landmark (sofa, TV, fish tank etc.)

But I can't remember stuff I've only seen once or even a few times. It has to be visually put into my head many times.

I am fascinated by anyone who has a photographic memory. What is it like and how does it work for you?

i dont have one. my memory is like this cute pigs,

just wants to eat, get online and take a hot shower!

I don't think anyone actually has a photographic memory.

Anyone who claims they do is either mistaken, lying, or an actual exception to the rule.

No photographic, but I can memorize things really easily when I read them which really helps for tests/ exams- I can learn vocab for languages really easily (at school, my teacher used to call me a walking dictionary), and when I had a closed book Shakespeare exam I memorized most of the main speeches which really helped in the exam. I can also still recite most of the GCSE Biology syllabus, lol, because my teacher said that if we learnt it we'd get an A (it works!).

Although I have poor memory, when I do remember things though it is photographic. In fact, I think i have it so often I think its a normal thing for people lol. I mean seriously when I ask where you put the cell phone wouldn't you have an image like a picture in your head were it is? Maybe that's not photographic but that's how I remember things.

Oh, yes!

I do not have a photographic memory in the sense that I have seen in fiction, and I find the Noah game and other memory games very hard.

However, other people think that I have a photographic memory because I see different details from them, I retain them for longer and can recreate scenes in ways that they think are phenomenally accurate. It is not photographic memory though, because I find there recreations phenomenally accurate and full of details that I never saw - the difference being that everyone else saw the same details and take them for granted, so they assume that I saw all that too.

For an obvious instance, at a party I can recall all the ornaments, wallpapers, lighting, music tracks and other concrete details, but miss out 90% of the conversation and even miss out people.

Sort of. Maybe.

I have a strange memory for things. There are certain events or moments that I remember with photo like clarity. But then there are vast stretches of my life for which there are very few memories. The photo like memories seem to be linked to a state of intense focus where everything is shut out but what I was doing at that very moment.

I cannot remember names if my life depended on it. I will forget the name of a person I have worked with daily for 10 years, minutes after using their name earlier in the conversation.

I seem to have some face blindness as well, not easily remembering people's faces outside of the context where I normally encounter them.

But I remember some events, sight, smell and sound, with almost cinematic clarity. What I ate for dinner last night? Good luck with that.

Thanks for the replies! The varying degrees of memory everyone has is really interesting. I wonder why it is certain things things stick more easily in peoples' minds. I'm one of those vocabulary people too. I can memorize words fairly easily, yet I have trouble making sentences with those words!

I definitely don't have a photographic memory. I (like many ppl here) have a good memory..... especially for new words. I have good techniques for memorizing information. I think most people who have good memories have developed good strategies for encoding information. Creating interactive visual images between two words that you are trying to associate is supposed to be one of the best ways of encoding new information. I can look through my old cognition textbooks and provide a reference for this if anyone wants. Anyways maybe you have such a good memory because you do use visual images to encode new information! I like to use rhythms and verbal mnemonics because I am more of an auditory learner...although this is supposed to be a less effective method to memorise info (but I create visual images sometimes too).

I definitely don't have a photographic memory. I (like many ppl here) have a good memory..... especially for new words. I have good techniques for memorizing information. I think most people who have good memories have developed good strategies for encoding information. Creating interactive visual images between two words that you are trying to associate is supposed to be one of the best ways of encoding new information. I can look through my old cognition textbooks and provide a reference for this if anyone wants. Anyways maybe you have such a good memory because you do use visual images to encode new information! I like to use rhythms and verbal mnemonics because I am more of an auditory learner...although this is supposed to be a less effective method to memorise info (but I create visual images sometimes too).

*sorry........ I accidentally posted this already as a separate entry in the tread*

YES. And it scares me sometime.

No. My memory is very good, especially when it comes to words, but it's not photographic or eidetic.

Feels like I've always had a strong visual memory -- can mentally playback movies, instrumental songs and images nicely, but, am totally lousy with memorizing peoples names, taking instructions or following any types of competitive sports/gaming events.

I guess it would only be legit photo memory if it helped me to continually photomemorize and beat my opponents at cards or chess or some other genre of strategy game, which so far it has failed to do.

In my younger years, speed reading and "photographic memory" seemed to go hand-in-hand ... and even though I have never actually been a "speed reader", I do have an ability for retaining mental recollections (general images) of pages even after just scanning them and I can them intellectually recall at least their overall theme or content. But when I think of "photographic memory", I think of people I have seen who have stood and watched as a freight train passed by and then re-iterated every serial number from every car ... and if people like that are not seeing actual "photos", somebody must be whispering into their ears!

Yes. I can remember weather events and what I did that day.