Do You Have a Photographic Memory?

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That's pretty cool. When I was younger I used to be able to recall how many stars my local paper gave any particular movie. I don't know why this was important to me.

I have a good visual memory but not like the savant that could draw whole cities from flying over them in a helicopter.
My memory helps me remember rooms in buildings, landscapes to help me find my way around, and I can remember past events in my mind really well.
What's interesting for me is that I can remember every music venue I've ever been to in detail. I could even right now draw every backstage room I ever went/sneaked into.
An interesting exercise to do is draw from memory. I find I can draw in much more detail than if the object was in front of me.

I'm not entirely sure... I do seem to remember thongs quite easily, especially in visual terms. For instance, I would learn my Latin vocal (and bullet-pointed notes) by reading the sheet two or three times. Then I got my nan to test me, and I would always remember the words or points in relation to where they were positioned on the page.

I... don't think so.

But I would say that my memory is quite good. When I read a book, most of the time I will be able to tell whether something was on a right or a left page (really practicaly if you need to find this scene soon).

And I'm able to play songs in my head if I heard them a few times, including the instrumental environment. That's why almost never listen to any music. If I like a song, I learn the lyrics by heart, listen to the song on youtube for a few times, and for the next few weeks, if not months, will be able to play the song in my head.

I am not sure what is meant by "photographic" memory. I am wondering if the term is misleading. I think my memories can come up to the front of my brain as if I am looking at a photograph of it. But I don't have a picture in my head, but the memory is very clear and detailed and hard to discard. It can come in handy of course, like when I had exams etc. But I don't think anyone has memories that are like photographs. But I do think some people can take snapshots of events and hold them in their brains for later processing.

Well....according to some definitions...a "photographic" or eidetic memory is the ability to recall alot of visual and/or auditory material with exceptional accuracy. Since there are many kinds of memory, this would involve only certain kinds of memory. For example, people who can recall alot of visual/auditory material might not be able to do the same when it comes to written/verbal material. It would seem like the late Kim Peek had an eidectic memory, but in his case, it seemed to be more for things he read and perhaps to a lesser extent, heard. Maybe he had an eidectic memory for visual material too.....I really don't know.


In any case....a truly eidectic memory is extremely rare and it may not exist at all in fact....especially when it comes to an eidetic memory for all aspects of human memory. The only case I think of off the top of my head is a fictional one. The Dr. Spencer Reid character from the TV crime drama, "criminal minds".

I used to be that way, but not so much anymore!

This is correct (that eidetic or photographic memory is extremely rare and may not exist) according to the neuropsychology of memory course that I took last year. Most people who think they have photographic memories either simply have a good memory, have good strategies for encoding information into memory or ( very likely) both)!

Well then I'm the exception of the rule. I only have to be flashed something and I remember quite accurately what it was. I once tried it myself and flash numbers at myself at super speed and remember each number. Also most people can only hold about 6 items to remember in their head. I did this test and I can hold about 10 things in my head all at once before I forget.

Good memory, but not photographic.

I have a better than average memory that are based on auditory and verbal memory skills. It is more "factual" memory as supposed to pragmatic. The way my memory works is it basically paraphrases what I just heard. I can often remember things I heard in great detail, but never in quite the same way as they were said or written. I can remember much of the content of a book or show for example, provide plot descriptions, but may never actually qoute anything from that show. To the casual observer this may seem alot like photographic memory since I can remember how a very small detail in season 1 of such and such a show relates to the conclusion and final episode, but in reality it is quite different. Or how I can remember the details of a complex regulation and how that regulation is applied two years after I worked on the issue. This was skill was useful in writing reports, I would just read through several books, bookmark the important sections, but write the entire report based on memory rather than having the books in hand to qoute. I would just add in the sources at the end of the process. I basically paraphrased many of my sources from memory. My brother who is bipolar actually had photographic memory but never had the same intellectual reasoning skills I did. So a good memory is only really useful if you actually know how to utilize it to your full advantage.

No I do not.

I don't think I have a photographic memory, but I can memorize very long random strings of numbers and words. Like remembering pi to 8,500 decimal places.

I've been told that I have a photographic memory in the past, I'm not so sure
Obviously things relating to my interests I remember better than other things, though I can remember lots of information, most of it useless, about events in my life, and sometimes events in the wider world, such as what I was doing when an event happened.

I don't have a photographic or eidetic memory as far as I know, but I used to have a really good memory and on simple visual or verbal memory tests would score about double what others would without using memory tricks, more than double if we all used memory tricks. I still remember things better - or rather, I remember more details, than other people. But I've gotten worse at remembering things as I've gotten better socially. I can no longer recite rules or item descriptions from D&D supplemental books by memory like I used to be able to.

I think the secret of great memory is simple. People remember what they are interested in. If you are like me and many other Aspies, you are interested in a great many things, most of which don't interest the average NT. The habit of making lists of obscure things helps memory too. Like others here, I was once able to do things like reciting every surface navel engagement in the Second World War, including the ships engaged and those lost or damaged. I can't do that anymore. Others here have mentioned 'losing' their memory like that, but I don't believe they have. It's just that we aren't into them as much as we were when younger and we aren't reinforcing them by reciting them in our minds, a typical Aspie behavior. That may be why the idiot savants can remember those lists, because they are continuously repeating them internally.

If you think you are losing your special memory, don't worry. What is really happening is that one way or another you are moving on to different and hopefully more useful and fulfilling mental exercises, possibly even ones that relate to the real world.

One thing I've noticed is that even Jocks, a seemingly favorite punching bag around here, that can't seem to get through a simple multiple-choice test without extensive coaching, can real off long lists of scores, batting and pitching stats, favorite players, etc, without effort.

It's all what you are interested in.