Photographic

Memory

The scientific term

Eidetic memoryis an ability to recall images, sounds, or objects

inmemoryafter only a few instances of exposure, with high precision for some
time after exposure.

Very rare
Only one well described case:
S (Solomon Shereshevsky, Russian journalist)
Could recall speeches verbatim
Even the languages he didnt know
if S. heard noise while imaging he would see "puffs of steam" or "splashes" on the
image
converted auditory to visual experience, tones to colors
take the number 1. This is a proud, well-built man; 2 is a high-spirited woman; 3
a gloomy person; 6 a man with a swollen foot; 7 a man with a moustache; 8 a
very stout womana sack within a sack. As for the number 87, what I see is a fat
woman and a man twirling his moustache

A small experiment
Look at the following picture for
10 sec

Now Answer these questions

What was the name of the man in the right hand corner?
What colour hair does Ashley have?
Is the colour of Andy's hair brown or black?
How many names are shown in this picture?
How many people are up in the picture?

Answers
Matt
Red
black
4
9

We conducted the same experiment in different age groups

10
10
10
10

children from the age group 7-10

from 10-15
from 15-20
from 20-22

Mostly in preadolescent kids and

very rare in adults
7-10 Age Group

10-15 age group

15-20 age group

20-22 age group

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0

10

12

Flashbulb Memories
According to Brown and Kulik, 1977
Highly accurate and exceptionally vivid memory when learning about a shocking
event.
Episodic Memories that are highly resistant to forgetting due to the emotional arousal at the
moment of the encoding.
Flashbulb Memory registers like a photograph

Typical flashbulb events are dramatic, unexpected, shocking

E.g. disasters, deaths of prominent figures (esp. if unexpected), momentous events

World Trade Centre
Kennedy, Princess Diana
Fall of Berlin Wall

Experiments and Conclusions

Brown and Kulik conducted an experiment to determine whether shocking event are
recalled more vividly and accurately than normal events
Participants had vivid memories about where they were, what they were doing and how they
felt about the event.

Neissar and harsh in 1992 carried out a similar experiment but in two phases
One immediately (24 hours) after the event
2.5 years later
Accuracy of the details ---2.95
Confidence level --- 4.17

Flashbulb memories not as accurate.

They feel accurate (we are confident in recall) but are just as prone to forgetting &
change as other episodic memories

Got it? Check this out

http://
www.open.edu/openlearn/body-mind/psychology/take-the-photographic-memo
ry-test

Thank
You