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#67639 10/29/03 10:49 AM
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I know that the MO course does not promise a photographic memory, in fact quite the opposite. OK that's fine by me, BUT there are people out there with amazing visual memories! A Russian psychologist studied a man with just such a memory and published the findings in "A little book about a vast memory". What are people with so-called photographic memories? Judghing by the stuff in MO are we to conclude that they are somehow "freaks" who do not have intricate memory webs, like children? Or are they just the opposite? Are they people with incredibly rich memory webs? If so, how come there are people who are 12 y.o., for exanmple, with photographic memories?

Can anyone please explain more about photographic memory?


#67640 10/29/03 11:02 AM
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People with true eidetic (photographic memories) are using a skill that many leave behind in childhood once they learn to speak. Very few retain this skill and the interesting thing about those that do is that they cannot understand or explain anything about the memory and as such needed to store the image as a whole.

They may be able to read a page of a book from their memory but the passages have no meaning for them.

The reason we don't seem to have a photographic memory (I say *seem* because we actually do) is because we have pulled apart the memory and linked it with other experiences and knowledge so that we can call on the separated information faster. In other words the mind has taken the whole memory and sorted it into relevant parts. This seems to be because the non conscious mind find greatest speeds in recognising patterns.

While to many the idea of a photographic memory might be cool and making life so much easier. It appears that a photographic memory is more of a hinderance than a good 'working' memory when it comes to day to day living.

Ih you were to rely on a photographic memory during a test for example you would be reading the information during the test, trying to understand it then or risk being accused of cheating because you managed to copy word for word what someone else wrote. The working memory saves you time by getting to what you need to know about something rather than having to analyise your memory of it later.

Alex


#67641 11/06/03 03:21 AM
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Thanks for the response Alex.
I understand what you mean about getting the images but not really understanding them. I think there is something about that in Luria's book. The thing is, there are aspects where you don't really need to understand the data as it is purely factual, where the eidetic thing would come in really useful - a set of dates for a history exam, for example, or, better still vocabulary in a foreign language! Wow, it would be So useful there.

#67642 11/06/03 03:35 AM
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Even for dates in history we make associations that are significant to us to understand the events that took place.

If you want to just remember things like dates purely listed you need to create that list in the first place. How else could you remember it. Mostly dates are gathered ad hoc with discussion of the events that they related to. So to create a photographic memory of it you need to create a picture for it. One of the reason mind maps are so useful. The colours drawings and symbols give the photographic part of the memory something to look at.

Alex



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