AskDefine | Define eidetic

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Dictionary Definition

eidetic adj : of visual imagery of almost photographic accuracy

User Contributed Dictionary

English

Etymology

From Greek ειδητικος, from εἴδος ‘form’.

Pronunciation

IPA: /aɪˈdɛtɪk/

Adjective

  1. Pertaining to a memory or mental image of perfect clarity, as though actually visible; or to a person able to see such memories.
    • 1979: ‘Funny that I should remember it? I have an eidetic memory for numbers, can't help it. — Kyril Bonfiglioli, After You with the Pistol (Penguin 2001, p. 276)
    • 1993: Eidetic images are pictures in the head. They are internal images that have the full force of conventional vision, but which are retained solely in the mind of the eidetiker. — Will Self, My Idea of Fun

Extensive Definition

Eidetic memory, photographic memory, or total recall is the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme accuracy and in abundant volume. The word eidetic () means related to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall of visual images, and comes from the Greek word είδος (eidos), which means "form". Eidetic memory can have a very different meaning for memory experts who use the picture elicitation method to detect it. Eidetic memory as observed in children is typified by the ability of an individual to study an image for approximately 30 seconds, and maintain a nearly perfect photographic memory of that image for a short time once it has been removed--indeed such eidetikers claim to "see" the image on the blank canvas as vividly and in as perfect detail as if it were still there.
Although many adults have demonstrated extraordinary memory abilities, before this finding, it was previously unknown whether true eidetic memory can persist into adulthood. While many artists and composers such as Claude Monet and Mozart are commonly thought to have had eidetic memory, it is possible that their memories simply became highly trained in their respective fields of art, as they each devoted large portions of their waking hours towards the improvement of their abilities. Such a focus on their individual arts most likely improved the relevant parts of their memory, which may account for their surprising abilities.

People with eidetic memory

A number of people claim to have eidetic memory, but until 2008, nearly no one had been tested and documented as having a memory that is truly photographic in a literal sense. Regardless, a number of individuals with extraordinary memory that have been labeled by some as eidetikers.

Memory records

Guinness World Records lists people with extraordinary memories. For example, on July 2 2005, Akira Haraguchi managed to recite pi's first 83,431 decimal places from memory and more recently to 100,000 decimal places in 16 hours (October 4, 2006). The 2004 World Memory Champion Ben Pridmore memorized the order of cards in a randomly shuffled 52-card deck in 31.03 seconds. The authors of the Guinness Book of Records, Norris and Ross McWhirter, had extraordinary memory, in that they could recall any entry in the book on demand, and did so weekly in response to audience questions on the long-running television show Record Breakers. However, such results can be duplicated using mental images and the "method of loci".
Some individuals with autism display extraordinary memory, including those with related conditions such as Asperger's syndrome. Autistic savants are a rarity but they, in particular, show signs of spectacular memory. However, most individuals with a diagnosis of autism do not possess eidetic memory.
Synesthesia has also been credited as an enhancement of auditory memory, but only for information that triggers a synesthetic reaction. However, some synesthetes have been found to have a more acute than normal "perfect color" sense with which they are able to match color shades nearly perfectly after extended periods of time, without the accompanying synesthetic reaction.
Many people who generally have a good memory claim to have eidetic memory. However, there are distinct differences in the manner in which information is processed. People who have a generally capable memory often use mnemonic devices to retain information while those with eidetic memory remember very specific details, such as where a person was standing, etc. They may recall an event with great detail while those with a normal memory remember daily routines rather than specific details that may have interrupted a routine.
Also, it is not uncommon that some people may experience 'sporadic eidetic memory', where they may describe a rather limited number of memories in very close detail. These sporadic occurrences of eidetic memory are not triggered consciously in most cases.

Fiction

Works of fiction often have characters with extraordinary memory. Characters with eidetic memory are found in written works, film, television, and games.

Controversy

Dr. Marvin Minsky, in his book The Society of Mind, was unable to verify claims of eidetic memory and considered reports of eidetic memory to be an "unfounded myth".
Support for the belief that eidetic memory could be a myth was supplied by the psychologist Adriaan de Groot, who conducted an experiment into the ability of chess Grandmasters to memorize complex positions of chess pieces on a chess board. Initially it was found that these experts could recall surprising amounts of information, far more than non-experts, suggesting eidetic skills. However, when the experts were presented with arrangements of chess pieces that could never occur in a game, their recall was no better than the non-experts, implying that they had developed an ability to organise certain types of information, rather than possessing innate eidetic ability.
Some people attribute exceptional powers of memory to enhanced memory techniques as opposed to any kind of innate difference in the brain. However, support for the belief that eidetic memory is a real phenomenon has been supplied by some studies. Charles Stromeyer studied his future wife Elizabeth who could recall poetry written in a foreign language that she did not understand years after she had first seen the poem. She also could recall random dot patterns with such fidelity as to combine two patterns into a stereoscopic image. She remains the only person to have passed such a test. You can test yourself by examining the bottom pair of the exemplar Julesz random-dot stereograms in this Wiki without a stereoscope or without crossing your eyes to view them stereoscopically. There are more complex figures in Foundations of Cyclopean Perception, a book on such patterns by Bela Julesz.
A.R. Luria wrote a famous account, Mind of a Mnemonist, of a subject with a remarkable memory, S.V. Shereshevskii; among various extraordinary feats, he could memorize lengthy lists of random words and recall them perfectly decades later. Luria believed the man had effectively unlimited recall; Shereshevskii is believed by some to be a prodigious savant like Peek. However, it is possible that he used memory techniques as well.

See also

Notes

eidetic in German: Fotografisches Gedächtnis
eidetic in Spanish: Eidética
eidetic in French: Mémoire eidétique
eidetic in Dutch: Fotografisch geheugen
eidetic in Japanese: 映像記憶
eidetic in Norwegian: Eidetiker
eidetic in Polish: Pamięć ejdetyczna
eidetic in Russian: Эйдетизм
eidetic in Slovak: Fotografická pamäť
eidetic in Finnish: Valokuvamuisti
eidetic in Swedish: Eidetik
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