It is not perfect, as it is subject to distortions and additions (like episodic memory), and vocalization interferes with the memory.' Eidetic imagery is the ability to remember an image in so much detail, clarity, and accuracy that it is as though the image were still being perceived. However, eidetic memory is not limited to visual aspects of memory and includes auditory memories as well as various sensory aspects across a range of stimuli associated with a visual image.' Author Andrew Hudmon commented: 'Examples of people with a photographic-like memory are rare. Scholar Annette Kujawski Taylor stated, 'In eidetic memory, a person has an almost faithful mental image snapshot or photograph of an event in their memory. The terms eidetic memory and photographic memory are commonly used interchangeably, but they are also distinguishable.

The word eidetic comes from the Greek word εἶδος ( pronounced, eidos) 'visible form'. When the concepts are distinguished, eidetic memory is reported to occur in a small number of children and is generally not found in adults, while true photographic memory has never been demonstrated to exist. Īlthough the terms eidetic memory and photographic memory are popularly used interchangeably, they are also distinguished, with eidetic memory referring to the ability to see an object for a few minutes after it is no longer present and photographic memory referring to the ability to recall pages of text or numbers, or similar, in great detail. For the method in phenomenology, see Eidetic reduction.Įidetic memory ( / aɪ ˈ d ɛ t ɪ k/ eye- DET-ik also known as photographic memory and total recall) is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision-at least for a brief period of time-after seeing it only once and without using a mnemonic device. For Sri Lankan action thriller short film, see EIDETIC (2016 film). For the 2011 documentary, see Photographic Memory (film). For the video game developer, see Eidetic, Inc.

This article is about the precise recall of memories.

Girl with eidetic imagery