Eidetic/ photgraphic memory

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yeah I know but it really is something that people who don't have it seem to want.

I think I have the least practical form of this. I vaguely recall it being referred to as eidetic imagery, but I'm not sure how distinct that is from eidetic/photographic memory. What I can usually do is take a kind of mental "snapshot" of a scene or image and recall it pretty much exactly some time later. Generally I only have to recall the image once or twice and it's fixed in my long-term memory. Here's one problem with it: I can only recall it for an instant. I can't seem to hold on to the image very long. For a while I'd managed to train myself to treat the image as a kind of virtual flipbook where I would simply recall the image repeatedly over a few seconds, but I found this to be quite draining to do. Here's the other problem: I can't recall text. The most I've been able to do is recall the shape of the lines and paragraphs, but not any of the actual content of the text. Not a very useful "talent."

Make it short term (memory) topic

When I was in school I would make study cards from my notes. The act of writing reinforced the visual side of the memory. I would then visually memorize all these cards. I would pull them out periodically, at school, breaks, meals, before bed, on the bus, etc. Then just before the exam, i would photograph with my short term memory all the cards (there would be thirty or so per subject). This I did by doing a quick scan with my eyes. I would immediately, as soon as I got the test paper, write down some things that I knew I would forget in the anxiety that followed. then i would check these notes as I went through the exam. By this system I would score no less than 90% on exams. Of course, I attended all lectures, did homework and studied every day, so good marks were no surprise.

I don't have this skill, either. That's why sciences were so hard for me. In order to memorize something visually, there has to be an auditory interpretation directly attached to it. For example, I memorize words very quickly. It might also be attributed to my word synesthesia. Flashcards actually distort my memory and my understanding of things. To memorize complex structures, I have to make connections to other elements that I have studied in the past that have settled in my long-term memory. My short-term memory is very poor, except for phone numbers, dates, and random words that someone has said to me verbally in real life. If someone says them to me only once, in a situation where I was an active participant, I can remember them for years. However, if the same date/phone number/etc. is said in a different way and/or by a different person later, it confuses my memory because then it is split between the two slightly different representations. It wouldn't make me forget, but the recall may take slightly longer.

This thread should be a poll, IMO.

The prof who diagnosed me as autistic also said i had synaesthesia, he did not explain much. I'm kinda interested as to how i can put it to use for my studies and everyday things. Although i was skeptical at first more and more things are becoming apparent about it. I'm not sure but i think mine is related to sound and smell but i really am not sure. eg, my friends voice sounded eggy and americans sound salty. I don't actually taste either but they give me that impression. My sense of smell and taste has always been good.

i can't seem to find much about this specific type.

I don't think i have a photographic memory as such but my memory is very visual and i can remember scenes from my childhood and dreams etc. quite clearly (they could also be fabricated memories so i'm not exactly sure)

My memory used to be SO much better. It is sad, since I use my memory a LOT and I know I can memorize a lot of things INSTANTLY. Heck, I may watch a movie once, and be able to describe the blocking, and repeat the script the second time. The PROBLEM, for some reason, is the RECALL. 8-( Just this afternoon, I set a goal to try to learn about 10.000 new words(4 languages) by next april. I may know most of them already, but it is still daunting.

i had an eidetic memory as a child. apparently while they aren't common to begin with, they are found more often in children. so i guess you can grow out of it?

it actually really sucks. i still have a very good memory for most things but for me it's painful to remember what it was like when my memory was perfect.

similarly my vision as a child was 20/13 in both eyes. unfortunately in a family riddled with myopia that was too good to be true. i got my first pair of glasses when i was 15 and while my vision isn't considered very bad, i can still remember what it was like to be able to see so much in the distance.

i haven't decided yet which is worse: to never have had an eidetic memory or exceptional vision, and therefore never have know the loss or to have had them and lost them but still have some beautiful memories.

I have a good but not perfect photographic memory, still I was able to put in my mind pages of books before exams

This is one facet of my ASD that's not a negative.

I remember everything I read and see if I'm focused on it (and "focused" is where is turns to a negative).

It doesn't surprise me though, as it's listed as a common feature in people with Autistic Disorder.

I remember what interest me.
My brain gets clogged with information and visuals.
I do not remember that which bores me. The trouble is, however, that what interests me is boring to the world!

i go to sleep and wake in the mornings with thousands of filmic pictures in my brain. It really is amazing and fun. I go through the day with incredibly detailed pictures in my brain that more often than not, take precedence over the material world around me.
My processing of this visual information is delayed, however. So, I may have been staring at the intricacies of a piece of lace in haberdashery store some weeks ago, or the growth on the lower inner lip of an old man (as I saw yesterday) and i processed this information in absolute photographic detail this morning. (and yes...the growth was interesting and far less scary than his eyes. )

I have one. I use it to win at Bar trivia. I am good a rembering dates.
And when I was in college Used to get As and Bs on test and I only had to study for like
30 minuts or an hour the night before.

Same thing with me. I remember a lot of things visually if they are what I focus on. My visual memory does not work when I force myself to study something. It's only auditory/word memory at that point, probably due to synesthesia. If I didn't have synesthesia, I probably wouldn't be able to remember anything at all except for the things that happen to interest me.

Same here. I don't have an eidetic memory at all.

Most likely you and I are the pattern thinkers. We "get" solutions to problems, but it's not a visual process.

I think pattern thinkers may have a thinking process closely related to beats or sounds. I say this because I can identify any piece of Classical music I've ever heard and each piece actually will evoke an idea.

I'm much the same. In school, I would study for a test by reading the chapter once the night before, then go into class and get an A. Also, I'm good at recalling events that have happened and details that nobody else would remember or care about. But it isn't quite "photographic" in that it isn't perfect recall.

I tested as having an eidetic memory as a child.

I don't have it anymore.

I always thought that my eidetic memory caused me more problems than benefits. I could see (and manipulate) anything I had ever seen, but only to the degree I had seen it. I could project a giant apple in the middle of the street--and literally see it. Because I had seen all sides of an apple and painstakingly "put it together", I could rotate the apple with my mind and see all sides.

But, to see a horse, it would be flat. Because I had only seen pictures of horses. And so I could only see a picture of a horse (complete with scenery on the picture I saw of a horse).

I could sometimes have difficulty recognizing objects because I could still see things with exact detail. If it was from a different angle, it caused me stress to assimilate it into my framework.

I'm frankly glad my mind abandoned it.

Wow, this is an old thread. Anyway I've been told I have photographic memory or at least something close to it by a lot of people because I remember events very specifically, like something a kid I was crushing on told me once in 5th grade, when I was 11.