A photographic memory, or an eidetic memory, is the ability to recall detailed aspects of sounds of images. People who have photographic memories are able to recall an image they have seen with great accuracy, they can essentially bring the image back into their minds and look at it again. Must be great for those who love art work, they can enjoy looking at their favorite painting all day after only seeing it once!
There is some controversy in regards to a photographic memory. One disagreement is whether a regular person can train themselves to have a photographic memory, or if it is a natural ability. It is probable that you can train yourself to a certain degree, but your innate ability is going to be a factor.
In his book The Society of Mind Dr. Marvin Minsky considers the entire idea of a photographic memory to be an ‘unfounded myth’. Psychologist Adriann de Groot conducted an experiment with chess masters. While they were able to recall the positions of every piece on the board very accurately, indicating they may have photographic memories, once the pieces were moved to a position that would not occur in a chess match, the chess masters were no better than an average person at remembering which pieces were where.
People have varying degrees of abilities in all facets of life, I may be able to run faster than you, but you may be a better at math. Then there are always going to be people who are much better than everyone else, like Donovan Bailey in the 100 meter dash or Stephen Hawking at trying to figure out just what the hell a black hole is. Some people are also going to have a far superior memory. Are these people truly capable of recalling every image they’ve ever seen accurately? There is probably not such thing as a true photographic memory, but it seems some people can get close enough that we can’t tell the difference anyway.
Check out this article for more info.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20060323-000001.html
