Contents:
- Medical Video: How I memorized an entire chapter from “Moby Dick”
- What is photographic memory?
- Could there be someone who has photographic memory?
- Similar phenomena often occur in children
Medical Video: How I memorized an entire chapter from “Moby Dick”
You may have heard the fictional character Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is a detective from England known for his intelligence and sharpness of memory in solving mysterious criminal cases. Many people believe that Sherlock Holmes has photographic memories. However, what is meant by photographic memory? Does anyone have this type of memory in real life? Check out the answer below.
What is photographic memory?
Photographic memory is the ability to remember events, pictures, numbers, sounds, smells, and other things in great detail. Memories that have been recorded in the brain can then be easily withdrawn whenever the information is needed.
A neuroscience specialist from John Hopkins University School of Medicine, dr. Barry Gordon explained to Scientific American how this memory works. According to him, photographic memory is similar to photography with a camera. You photograph an event or object with your mind. Then you save the portrait in a photo album. When you need certain information from that portrait, you can easily open your photo album. You just have to watch the photo, zoom in (zoom in) or zoom out (zoom out) in the desired part, and the information will come back in your memory as if it were still fresh.
For example, you have studied the history of the archipelago kingdom in elementary school. People with photographic memory are able to remember for sure the period of each kingdom and its area of power. Even though the lesson was past ten years ago. Or you remember the exact number plate of the vehicle that hit you two months ago, just a quick look.
While human memory is not as sophisticated and accurate. You might remember your breakfast menu this morning. However, do you remember what your breakfast menu was two weeks ago? It's hard to remember, right?
Could there be someone who has photographic memory?
Scientifically, there is no evidence that humans can have photographic memories. So, this memory is only fictional. Psychiatric and neurologist specialist Larry R. Squire explained that if photographic memory really exists, people who are suspected of having this ability should be able to read back the contents of all novels that have been read without seeing the text at all. In fact, no human can do it.
Indeed there are people who have extraordinary memory. There is even a world class championship held to test the memory of these great people. However, the championship participants have been training hard for years with special strategies. In everyday life, they can still forget which parking lot the vehicle was next to or forget an appointment with someone. This is proof that no one has the ability to remember accurately without the slightest error.
Similar phenomena often occur in children
Although the theory of photographic memory has been pushed aside by scientists and experts, there is a rare phenomenon that is very similar to photographic memory. The phenomenon that usually appears in children is called eidetic memory.
Eidetic memory, according to psychologist Alan Searleman, is the ability to accurately remember an event or object within minutes. For example, a child sees a flower garden painting. Then the painting will be covered. Children with eidetic memories can remember how many petals there are in a particular flower in the painting.
However, the eidetic memory is not the same as photographic. Children with this talent cannot remember the number of flower petals in the painting he saw two days ago. He can only accurately remember the things he saw in just a few minutes.
Unfortunately, a number of studies show that the ability to remember this will disappear by itself as we age. Experts suspect that the human brain will indeed "throw away" information or memories that are no longer needed. If not discarded, the capacity of the human brain cannot contain so much information since you were born.
