How to Learn Photographical Memory Online
Photographic memory is the process in which a person is able to take a "photograph" in his mind of something and later be able to retrieve the image, as if looking at a photograph. Photographic, or eidetic memory, is defined by Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary as "marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall, especially of visual images."
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The classic matching card game we played as children helps build memory. Play memory games. Imagination Games teaches players how to memorize and retrieve "non-associated visual information" to increase memory. You can play their memory games for free online. The classic card-matching game many of us played as children is the essential photographic memory training tool. It teaches players to take mental pictures and to connect them in the mind to create a complete picture of all the cards face-down on a table, using memory alone. Cards are turned over in pairs then hidden once again, and the player must remember which cards are where to create matching pairs; a "map" of which cards are in which positions must be visualized. Imagination Games offers an interactive version of this game online, as well as a version of the game using colors instead of designs.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also offers three online interactive memory games which test short-term memory, list recall and recall with interference. NASA's Interference game has players trying to remember sequences of numbers while interference occurs. According to NASA, "Interference is an event that prevents you from remembering specific things. But there are different types of interference, and they vary in their destructive effect." The game illustrates different effects of interference on memorization.
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Everything from musical notes to colors and rhythms are used in mnemonics memory games. Play mnemonics games to build photographic memory. Mnemonics use images, sounds and other stimuli to help memorize otherwise non-memorable things, such as strings of letters and numbers. There are many different types of mnemonics, including those that use acronyms, sentences, rhythms, sounds or letters to help encode information on the memory in ways that will later be retrievable with accuracy. Imagination Games offers two different numbers mnemonics games online. These games use either symbols or letters to help memorize number patterns.
NASA also has an online game called The Mnemonicizer, which teaches players how to use mnemonics to memorize things, and how to make "personalized mnemonic devices." In a 2005 article in the "New York Times" about mnemonics and memory, Terry Sejnowski, a computational neuroscientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California says, ''They are more than just tricks. The brain, unlike the computer, does not store memories in one place; it distributes them seamlessly. That helps explain the power of mnemonics, based on multiple senses -- visual images, sounds, rhythms and smells." This article also goes on to say that mnemonics have been used since ancient times for memorization tasks.
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Luminosity Brain Games offers an interactive face and name-recognition memory game. Play memory games on Luminosity, which offers a free membership with limited game access. Many of the games are build memory and photographic recall skills. One free game from Luminosity is the Familiar Faces game, which builds on your memory of people's names via face recognition over time. You play the game as if you are a waiter in a restaurant, greeting customers by name and getting their orders. Repeat customers challenge long-term memory as well.
Luminosity has another game called Lost in Migration, which requires players to block out distractions to recall past moves. Speed Match flashes cards with different symbols and colors and players must recall previous moves to play the current card. Bird Watcher displays a nature picture, then flashes a bird in one place on the screen while flashing a letter somewhere else. You must then click on the spot where the bird appeared and also recall the letter that was displayed. All of these games help build photographic memory.
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Upload a memory game to your iPhone. Download a version of the classic memory game, Concentration, to your iPhone, and work on your memorization skills throughout the day.
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- Photo Credit old camera 2 image by James Lemmon from Fotolia.com playing cards image by Mijakowska from Fotolia.com coloured musical notes image by patrimonio designs from Fotolia.com girl in restaurant image by goce risteski from Fotolia.com cell phone image by MateiA from Fotolia.com
