Lousy memory/Photographic memory

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Just currious about memory phenomonena in general.

Please do share your unsual/unique experiences in memory.




I frequently walk into a room to retrieve something and when I get there I realize that I have forgotten why I even went there. This happens so often it is not even funny anymore for me.

I frequently forget I am going to school/work and make a wrong turn to the library which is my most common destination. This drives me nuts.

I couldn't remember my phone number or adress until I was in 7th/8th grade. My 1st grade teacher berated me for forgeting how to spell my last name, and I couldn't remember my middle name until i was also in middle school. This was a constant source of embrassment for me.

It takes me a riddicuolusly long time to recall the events of the day, if at all. Ask me what I ate for lunch and it might take me all of a minute or two to remember it.

Even to this day, I can only remember the alphabet to "P". After that I am just guessing what letters are next.

If I am given a job, if there is more than two parts to it, I am absolutly bound to forget the third one. Thank god for the list.

As some of you have no doubt noticed, I can't spell a lot of words properly. A good deal of the time I guess how to spell larger words.

I can't remember rules unless I understand the logic behind them. consequently my grammer tends to suffer, I screw up in countless minor ways at work, etc.

I can't even get the date or the day of the week without a lot of thinking. Thank god for newspapers.

I can remember some things (like numbers) really well but I can easily forget that I'm supposed to be doing something at a certain time. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Yeah. I hate that feeling of realizing what time it is but not remembering exactly what I need to do.

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Last edited by GalileoAce on 02 Apr 2006, 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have a great long-term memory for visual data and for feelings, but very poor short and long-term recall of names, dates, instructions, lists, etc. My distant childhood memories are nothing more than visual impressions and feelings. There is almost no memory of dialogue.

I do this often as well. It’s not so bad at home, but in the workplace this behavior can appear odd.



This type of memory problem has plagued me since childhood. My problem is exactly as you describe. I can remember the first couple of things, then everything else gets fuzzy. Taking orders from someone while making eye contact is when this problem affects me the worst. I will nod my head and pretend I understand, and then walk away to begin my tasks and promptly forget almost everything I was told. I suspect this may be CAPD, as there are times when a person is speaking to me and I see their lips moving and hear their voice, but my focus isn’t on the verbal data and…it’s hard to explain…it’s like I am hearing the person, but not understanding, or my focus involuntarily shifts to ambient noise. At times, it feels like the verbal data I am receiving is “bouncing off” of my mind. I just know it isn’t going to stick. Weird stuff…

It’s awful being so forgetful. It makes me feel incompetent, because of the problems poor memory has caused me in past employment. I screw up in countless minor ways as well, Prometheus.

It also used to be very difficult for me to leave the house without forgetting things I needed to take with me. I would go to my garage and get in my truck, then remember something and return inside to retrieve it. Sometimes, I would do this two or three times before I could finally drive away. Now I avoid this, by keeping everything I normally need in a fanny pack. My wallet, keys, cell phone, etc, all stay in this bag and are never, ever placed anywhere else. Even the bag has its own place that it is always stored. This routine has helped enormously.

Ding! Same here...

When on the bus I sometimes forget whether I'm going to home or to school, pisses me off how wrong I normally am.

It's usually short term memory that sucks, like remembering chores or how to do them.

People's names are tough, even when they wear name tags and then turn around.

My brother (ADHD) and my father get memories scrambled. It's hilarious at times!

Me and my brother erase each other from memories of going out to eat. I never remember him being there, and he never remembers me being there.

I don't remember yesterday or the date.

I can name every CD I have, but I can't name all the states.

There's more, but I'm not going to rant.

I have a good long term memory. I remember things that are happened in college and elseswhere. But also memories from way back when I was little around 2 or 3 years old.

I have an excellent photographic memory, but no short term memory at all. I had to go back and check out what this post was about 5 times when i was in the post reply screen. I have no memory for numbers, and small unassociated bits of information - like names. But large concepts, events(things that happen to me), and anything i can see or hear for a small while i remember for pretty much ever. Infact, if i don't remember it, chances are it didn't happen.

I used to correct people's story telling among my friends but i don't anymore, it is useless. But they get it more wrong each time they tell a story or quote some movie. I remember each time they quoted it or told the story, and they get it MORE wrong each time!

I can still remember my parents' license plate #s from when I was a kid...

I can memorize Shakespeare's play "King Lear" nearly word for word, but I can't remember anything having to do with numbers.

Long term memory is good.

Short term memory is shocking. I get told to do something and forget what I was told 30 seconds later.

My parents ask me for information on people, dates, events, and trivia from up to 15 years ago, but I can forget something I was going to do on my way to do it.

My long term and short term memory are equally bad. I can't even remember any good examples of my bad memory to relegate to you all.

Oh wait, here's one. Not only do I forget to do things, but sometimes I remember I forgot to do something, only to then discover that I had forgotten that I had already done it.

My memory can be extremely good when it works. It doesn't work on command, however. That becomes the problem. It works when it works, not because I or anyone else have decided it must work.

Yes I sure do. I am very good at remembering pieces of data, especially numbers. But when it comes to things like remembering several tasks I have to get done, I'm screwed. I'll focus on one or two, and then completely forget everything else.

I'm just plain absent-minded, too lost in my own head to notice the world around me, hehe. Of course, I do have an excellent visual memory; however it is by no means eidetic.

I have a little HP PDA and I put all of my appointments in there. Strangely enough, once I've actually put the appointment in there, I can remember it fine-- like my short term just needed that extra boost of visually seeing the appointment in my PDA. So, as long as I put it in there, 90% of the time I'll remember it and actually beat the alarm to the punch.

I no longer lose my keys very much because I have a hook by the door on which I put them right when I walk in. Though I still do lose other things often enough. But usually I can locate them fairly quickly (though I have gone months without my wallet on several occasions).

PS- I do the walking into a room and forgeting why I had come in there in the first place, then walk back into the other room, pause a second, remember why I wanted to go into the other room in the first place, and then walk back into the other room again. God, I'm glad I live alone. I look ridiculous.