What Is a Photographic Memory?什么是照相記憶？

瑪麗·麥克馬洪　張碩/譯

According to theories， a person with a photographic memory1 is capable of remembering scenes and events as detailed， precise images. Numerous scientific studies have suggested that the photographic memory is probably purely legendary， as no demonstrations2 of a truly photographic memory have ever been documented. Some people， however， have what is known as an eidetic memory3， a related but somewhat different concept. The terms “eidetic” and “photographic” are sometimes confused， especially in the popular media， and some people may refer to a photographic memory when they really mean an eidetic memory.

以理而論，有照相記憶力的人能以細致精確圖像記住場景和事件。然而，無數科學研究表明照相記憶很可能純屬傳說，因為沒有過任何演示照相記憶的材料。不過，有些人確有所謂“遺覺記憶”。這種記憶與照相記憶有關，但并不相同。“照相記憶”與“遺覺記憶”兩種說法有時難以分辨，尤其在大眾媒體中，有些人可能在用照相記憶這種說法，實際說的是遺覺記憶。

Proponents of the belief that a photographic memory really does exist say that some people are capable of storing information in the form of detailed images which can be recalled at will4. A person with such a memory， for example， would be able to describe a painting in detail after seeing it once， or be able to recite passages from a book he or she had only seen in passing. People are in fact capable of such feats5， but this appears to be the result of rigorous mental training， rather than an actual photographic memory.

有人支持照相記憶肯定存在的這種看法，他們說，有些人能以細致圖像的形式存儲信息，而且能夠隨意調取。譬如，有這種記憶力的人只要看過某幅畫一次就能詳細描述出這幅畫的細節，或者，只要粗略瀏覽過書中段落就能過目成誦。其實，的確有身懷這種絕技的人，不過這種絕技看起來是嚴苛訓練的結果，并非真正的照相記憶力。

In an eidetic memory， people store visual information with a high level of precision， and this allows them to repeat information in exhaustive detail， but usually only shortly after being exposed to it. Eidetic memory appears to be most common in children， typically fading with age， and some researchers have suggested that this may be because children are more likely to store information in a purely visual way， rather than trying to verbally describe the things they see. For example， someone with an eidetic memory can look at a picture of a dog and later describe it very precisely， but if he or she says “dog” when looking at the image， the level of recall appears to be diminished6.

有遺覺記憶力的人以高精度存儲視覺信息，從而能分毫不差地復現所見內容，不過，通常只在看過東西后較短時間內才能做到。遺覺記憶力似乎在兒童身上最為常見，一般隨著年齡增長逐步衰退。有些研究人員推測這大概是因為兒童更可能以純粹視覺形式存儲信息，而不是把他們所見用言語表達出來。譬如，有遺覺記憶力的人只要看一張狗的圖片，隨后就能準確描述這只狗。然而，如果他一邊注視這張圖片一邊說出“狗”這個詞語，那么他對狗的記憶似乎就沒那么清晰。

In the case of individuals who have an eidetic memory， they appear to store information in fundamentally different ways which facilitate a very high level of recall. This type of memory is not quite the same thing as the famed “photographic memory” which pops up7 periodically in the popular media， not least8 because photographic memories are often attributed9 to adults， and children are actually more likely to have an eidetic memory.

有遺覺記憶力的人似乎以完全不同的方式存儲信息，這使得他們的記憶非常清晰。著名的“照相記憶”不時在大眾媒體上出現——尤其因為人們經常認為有照相記憶的是成年人，而兒童其實更有可能具有遺覺記憶。

Numerous people throughout history have demonstrated an astounding10 ability to memorize things， from the lines of hundreds of plays to the details of visual scenes which they can later reproduce on a canvas. These individuals have sometimes been said to have photographic memories， but the truth is that they probably trained themselves over the course of years. For professionals who work in fields where a good memory is key， such as actors， painters， and musicians， the development of various memory tricks is vitally necessary to success， and these memorization feats were achieved through hard work and dedication， not memory magic.

歷史上無數人展示過令人嘖嘖稱奇的記憶力，無論是記住數百部的戲劇臺詞，還是在畫布上逼真再現先前所見場景細節。有時人們會說，這些人具有照相記憶力，然而事實上這極有可能是他們經年累月自我訓練的結果。對某些行業的專業人士來說，記憶力很關鍵，例如演員、畫家、音樂家，掌握各種增進記憶力的技巧對事業成功十分重要，但這些記憶絕技都是通過勤奮和專注而練就，絕非記憶魔法使然。

（譯者單位：西北師范大學）