Although I introduced the list of people above as having over-average intelligence, eidetic memory and intelligence are not actually connected. This ability is mostly found in children below age 6. However after age 6, the ability for "total recall" is often lost. The people I listed above, despite the fact that they are fictional characters, have managed to maintain this ability well into adulthood. Additionally, it is important to note that eidetic memory is a process that applies to long-term memory. Once the information enters the working memory, the person has an easier time encoding all of that information. For example, a person with eidetic memory would be able to remember large amounts of literature that was read to him/her or that he/she once read. Again, this information is not "rehearsed" in the sense that the person does not consciously try to retain all of that information at once.
This all sounds great on paper, but psychologists have a really hard time deciding if this is a true phenomenon or not. Some psychologists, including Martin Minsky, claim that this phenomenon is just a myth. One particular test stands out among the rest. in 1970, Charles Stromeyer conducted an experiment on his fiance in which he had her recall poetry in a foreign language that she did not understand. The poetry held no semantic meaning to her, so her recollection of it was attributed to eidetic memory. The fiance, known as Elizabeth, was also able to recall complex dot patterns and combine the patterns into one image. To date, she is the only person to have passed such a test. While this experiment seems great, there are some loopholes. First, Elizabeth refused to repeat the experiment. Second, the scientist married the subject, making the whole experiment seem a bit skewed.
What do you think? Is eidetic memory real?
For all of the Sheldon Cooper fans out there, look what I found!
Another show that has something like this also, is Psych. In the show, Shawn Spencer pretends that he is a psychic and he works for a police station. In reality though, all he has is a really good eye for detail and a really good memory. He will read something and see the small details that people don't usually see, and when someone asks about the situation he will look back into his memory and picture the room and find the small details that he saw within his memory.
ReplyDeleteThis sound so cool! I would love to be able to remember symbols and details- it would make notes for music a lot easier to memorize. Although, it does sound like it would be kind of annoying. Sometimes it's important to forget the random, unimportant details and only take out the big picture. While this ability may seem awesome and desirable sometimes, I can see how it can be a hindrance as well.
ReplyDeleteYou people need to stop giving me mini heart attacks because of Sheldon's huge connection to AP Psychology. As said before, Big Bang is one of my favorite shows. Besides from Sheldon knowing everything, he also has an eidetic memory. UBER! Lol, but seriously, if I could have one power, I would want eidetic memory because I could be like all knowing. That would be cool.
ReplyDeleteI really hope it's a real thing because Spencer Reid is just THE COOLEST. But, like you said, the fact that the Elizabeth chick was the only person to pass the test and the huge red flag that she was the fiance of the scientist conducting the test combined with her refusal to repeat the experiment makes it all seem way too sketchy for my liking.
ReplyDeleteIt would be pretty crazy to have total recall. But like we said in class, our brains can only process a certain amount of information.. Will this eventually overstimulate our brain? What will happen then? It's kind of like when you're doing a million things at once and then you feel like you're watching yourself and your brain just explodes! Does that happen!?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Jamie on this one. There's only so much information our brains can process at once. I don't think our brains can handle this sort of thing. Sorry. I wish, though. It would be cool...
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