Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Eidetic memory experience?

Hi folks,

I'm hoping someone here has experience with eidetic memories and can offer me insight into what I'm witnessing with my son, whose memory seems unusually sharp.

Parental background: DH has near total recall of information from most sensory input, and I have preternatural auditory--though I don't think eidetic--recall.

So here are some examples of what we're witnessing in DS:
-Verbatim memorization of hundreds of books, often after one or two readings
-Memorization of song lyrics after one singing
-Retention of new words after one hearing (I think this one is pretty standard for this age--thank you, fast mapping!)
-Internalization of concepts after one exposure (eg. solar system configuration after viewing a diorama at a museum).

For instance, while getting changed today, he turned off the light in his room and said, "It's dark. See constellations on ceiling--there's Big Dipper." We don't have any glow-in-the-dark stickers or space diagrams anywhere, just one storybook that we've read twice that features an offhand remark in the dialogue about constellations and...surprise...the Big Dipper.

All these memories persist, even if the information is in "disuse". I pulled out a book we hadn't read for at least 6 months, and he still knew it verbatim!

If you have experience with eidetic memories, does this sound like it fits the bill, are we likely "just" looking at a strong by not atypical memory, or is it too early to tell?

Thanks so much for your feedback!

yes.

It sounds like it, to me. DS6 has an eidetic memory. Although, I read that there is no such thing.

My son first showed signs when he had just turned three, and he received a box collection of 45 books. After a couple of hours, he had memorised every title and its number.

He can also remember songs and however many minutes and seconds it goes for; he can read a 250 page book and remember the exact page number of a particular passage; he has memorised the periodic table, and all the element's info; and every street in his street directory- he's a walking GPS. And all of theae things.were memorised after one occasion.

I have many more examples. I'm not an expert on this subject, I just have some experience through my son. One thing I have learnt is, an eidetic memory doesn't stop them from forgetting where they left their pen.

Forgetting? (Where thy left their pen)

Yes, most children with eidetic memory lose their ability.

Fascinating.

My son has a photographic memory also. It skipped a generation... Lol! My mom had it too. She never lost her incredible memory. As a matter of fact, she was one of the 1st National Merit Scholars in the late 50s with a perfect score... Not everyone loses it.

One example of my son is he memorized "1001 video games you must play before you die" and we would go to a random page, and he would tell you everything on the page... Crazy! It's a 1000 page book!

Here is a similar thread.

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....graphic_and_or_Audiovisua.html#Post92751

I will add that my DD10 still has an amazing ability to memorize and retain, but this only includes items that she is interested in. We are seeing some portions of her memory gradually fade, as some had indicated in the prior post.

It has been an interesting journey.

Tx G Mom's link reminded me of some earlier examples of my son's memory.
At two, my son would take five minutes to put together a 35 piece jigsaw puzzles, then the second time he put it together only to took him 30 seconds. Even earlier than that, my son started to "read" at 18 months, until we realised he was just reciting the words- a great start to actual reading (he then started properly reading at two). I have millions of examples!

It's funny, some of the examples other are giving about eidetic memory in adulthood actually sounds like what I can do. I didn't realise that there were different types.