Table of contents:
- What is photographic memory?
- Could anyone have a photographic memory?
- A similar phenomenon often occurs in children
You've probably heard of the fictional character Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is a detective from England who is known for his intelligence and sharp memory in solving mysterious criminal cases. Many people believe that Sherlock Holmes has a photographic memory. 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. The memories that have been recorded in the brain can then easily be retrieved whenever the information is needed.
A neuroscience specialist from John Hopkins University School of Medicine, dr. Barry Gordon explains 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 the portrait, you can easily open your photo album. You just have to look at the photo, enlarge (zoom in) or reduce (zoom out) in the desired section, and the information will come back to your mind as if it were fresh.
For example, you have studied the history of the archipelago kingdom in elementary school. A person with a photographic memory is able to remember exactly the period of each kingdom and the areas under which it was ruled. Even though that lesson had passed ten years ago. Or you remember the exact license plate of the vehicle that hit you two months ago, with just a glance.
Meanwhile, human memory is not as sophisticated and accurate as that. You may remember your breakfast menu this morning. However, do you remember what your breakfast menu was two weeks ago? It's hard to remember, isn't it?
Could anyone have a photographic memory?
Scientifically, there is no evidence that humans can have a photographic memory. So, this memory is only fictitious. Psychiatry and neurologist Larry R. Squire explained that if photographic memory really existed, people suspected of having this ability should be able to read back the entire novel that has been read without looking at the text at all. In reality, no human can do it.
There are people who have extraordinary memories. There is even a world-class championship held to test the memory of these great people. However, the participants of this championship have been training hard for years with a special strategy. In everyday life, they can still forget where they parked their vehicle or forgot an appointment with someone. This is proof that no one has the ability to remember accurately without the slightest error.
A similar phenomenon often occurs in children
Although the theory of photographic memory has been rejected by scientists and experts, there is a rare phenomenon that is very similar to photographic memory. This phenomenon that usually occurs in children is called eidetic memory.
Eidetic memory, according to psychologist Alan Searleman, is the ability to remember an event or object accurately within a few 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 on a particular flower in the painting.
However, eidetic memory is not the same as photographic. The child with this talent was unable to remember the number of flower petals in the painting he had seen two days ago. He can only remember accurately the things he saw in the intervals of just a few minutes.
Unfortunately, a number of studies have shown that this ability to remember goes away on its own with age. Experts suspect that the human brain will indeed "throw away" information or memories that are no longer needed. If you don't remove it, the capacity of the human brain will not be able to hold onto a lot of information since you were born.
