THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EIDETIC IMAGERY
There are several characteristics of
eidetic imagery that, while not necessarily distinguishing it from other
forms of visual imagery, do provide insight into what eidetic images are
like. According to Haber and Haber, "the most important characteristic is
negative: Eidetic imagery is not photographic." The myth that eidetic
images are exact copies of the stimulus is an old one, and this accuracy
criterion was often used as a identifier of EI. However, eidetic images
are not formed as a photograph is formed, but instead are constructive,
not reproductive. Eidetic images can be highly detailed or sketchy and
fragmentary, and are often no more accurate than a normal memorized image.
Therefore, using accuracy as a criterion for EI is unsubstantiated.
It takes time for an eidetic image to
form. An eidetiker generally has to look at the stimulus for at least
three to five seconds and to inspect each part of the stimulus for enough
time. Once the EI has been formed, the subject is able to report their
image as though they were actually looking at what they were describing, very
fluently and confidently. Noneidetikers would verbalize their images very
hesitantly, as if searching for an imperfectly organized and stored
memory.
Eidetic children do not just see
eidetic images from only one kind of stimulus, but instead can construct
them from all kinds of stimuli. Also, most EI last for more than half a
minute, with the average being well over several minutes.
It is also possible to keep eidetic
images from forming. Many children use techniques such as naming each
item they are looking at so that an EI will not develop. Apparently,
actively using verbal rehearsal interrupts the eidetic process and keeps an
image from forming. This explains why eidetikers have a difficult time
creating images of printed text; they tend to read the text as they look at
it and this interrupts the EI process.
Almost all eidetikers say that they
can terminate their images by simply blinking their eyes, looking away, or
shifting their eyes to a new object. Also, almost all report the same
pattern of fading for their images. This is due partly to visual factors
such as loss of clarity, color, contrast, etc., and partly to verbal
descriptive limitations. Only one child has ever claimed that she could
make an image last as long as she wanted it to, and only then by
concentrating on the image. Otherwise, her images would fade as normal.
Therefore, the way in which an image fades is a very important
characteristic of eidetic imagery.
Other eidetic characteristics include
projecting images onto the surfaces that contain the stimulus, moving
images around on a surface without leaving the boundaries of the surface,
combining two images together into a composite image, and seeing an image in
one eye when they look at the stimulus with only one eye. All of these
characteristics help to identify eidetic imagery and to clarify what it is
eidetikers experience when they form an eidetic image.