There's a lot of debate about whether or not there really is such a thing as a photographic memory. To make matters worse, expert often confuse claims of photographic memory with those of eidetic memory. Because the term "photographic" is something of a misnomer, people who have the ability to clearly remember small details are being confused with those who claim to have total recall of a span of more than two or three minutes.

The test for eidetic memory is also used to test photographic memory. In this test, a person is given thirty seconds to look at an image, which is then removed. After this, the person looking at the image tries to recreate it in their mind, and tells the researcher what they saw.

Few people have been able to repeat this image with clear detail, and the image fades over time. after a few minutes, no one has been able to offer much more than a rough outline of the image. It's this sort of test that's used as the basis for the claim that there's no such thing as photographic memory.

However, despite these results, there are a number of people who've demonstrated that there is a real type of photographic memory. These people have enhanced their memory abilities. That means that they can remember things for longer periods than most, rather than taking a "picture" with their minds.

You Can Expand Your Memory

Most people who are thought of as having a photographic memory are children. Younger people often recall things they've seen or experienced in extremely vivid detail. As we age, unfortunately, the memory process is disrupted, and older images are replaced with new ones on a regular basis.

It's thought that one of the reasons adults are less likely to store these details is because there are so many interruptions in our daily lives. We can effectively collect enough detail in our mind's eyes to store it into memory.

There are plenty of resources available to help us take advantage of our memory abilities, and train ourselves to have something a lot like a photographic memory. There have been memory courses around for many years. These help people learn to recall important information like dates and names. Through this training, you might be able to develop what's sometimes called a photographic memory.

People who claim to have eidetic memories (the ability to recall images in detail after seeing it no more than once), are very rare. People with photographic memories are able to recall detail information, as though they were looking at a picture. Their expanded memory abilities are what permit them to form an image of that information.

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