Taking a Closer "Look" at Photographic Memory

We've all seen these people in movies.

They can recall page 268 of a book and read it to you as though the book is right in front of them.  Well, I'm here to tell you that, unfortunately, just like Santa Clause -  it's a nice story but no practical evidence of it exists.

Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of people with the ability to stare at a picture for a few seconds and then give exact details, but not only is it purposeful memorization, but it doesn't last that long.   After an average of four hours most people can't recall the information.

Even with the realization that Santa isn't real, we still get presents out of the deal. While researching the phenomenon of photographic (Eidetic) memory, I still learned some fun and useful facts.  Useful being the key word...fun if you're into being a nerd!

Most people with great memories are called mnemonists - they use mnemonic devices to remember things.  I consider myself one of these people;  I use them all the time.  Anyone who's ever taken piano lessons knows the Treble Clef Scale of EGBDF: Every Good Boy Does Fine.   Recently while in pharmaceutical training, I had to remember all the different types of Leukocytes (white blood cells) the body makes.  I made up "Little Monkeys Eat Bananas Naturally."  Each first letter symbolizing the first letter of a type of cell:  Lymphocytes, Monocytes, Eosinophils, Basophils, and Neutrophils.  

However, there is another really neat trick that the pros use.  You know those people that can remember lists of things that are 100+ items long?  Well, they have an even easier trick than thinking up stupid sayings.  It's called the Method of Loci - or the Mental Walk.

The Mental Walk basically works like this: you imagine taking a walk through your house, and in each room you imagine an object.  Each object is part of the list you are trying to memorize.   By imagining the object in a funny or gross way, it's easier to remember.

For example, let’s say that I wanted to remember the following list of items: cat litter, diapers, chocolate syrup, furniture polish, frozen peas. 

Here is my mental walk:  I start at my front door and walk into my house.  There in front of me I see a giant catbox with an enormous steamy poop on top.  I then turn and walk into my dining room where I imagine my dining room table covered with stinky dirty diapers (see a theme?).   Next I’m heading into the kitchen where I slip and fall because there is chocolate syrup all over the floor because it dripped off the counter, down the cabinets and onto the floor.  I try to find furniture polish to clean it up, but I don’t have any.  Next, I run outside to the baby pool to get clean, but instead of water it’s filled with frozen peas.

Kinda cool, huh?   Almost like telling a story...

Definitely useful if you don't have anything to write with, or your kid needs a quick cramming session for a test.   What kind of fun stories can you come up with?