What is photographic memory?

Photographic memory (scientific term: eidetic memory) refers to the very rare ability to effortlessly hold onto very large amounts of briefly-presented information. It’s a memory ability that is rare in children, and nearly absent in adults.

It’d be cool if we could train ourselves to remember lots of information without trying. But unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be possible. Photographic memory is mostly a myth. People who think they have a photographic memory tend to use mnemonic devices or other strategies to remember information. Unfortunately there isn’t any “magic” way to get information into memory - it takes effort.

We say that photographic memory is mostly a myth, because it is the case that a small percentage of kids do have unusually good visual memory - even their memories aren’t perfect, but they have impressively good memory, even for briefly-presented information. As these kids grow up, basically everyone outgrows this ability. It’s not clear why, but one idea is that as language systems develop, human memory systems may rely more on language and less on visual processing to remember.