EIDETIC IMAGE

an unusually vivid subjective visual phenomenon. An eidetic person not only can imagine an absent object but behaves as if he really can see it, either with closed eyes or while looking at some surface that serves as a convenient background for the image. A particular object may be recalled eidetically either immediately after its disappearance or removal from sight or after a lapse of several minutes, days, or even years; spontaneously appearing eidetic images have also been reported. In some instances, eidetic images and the objects they represent differ in colour, form, apparent size, position in space, richness of detail, and many other characteristics; in other instances, objects may be eidetically reproduced with almost photographic fidelity. Phenomena corresponding to eidetic images in the visual field are believed to exist in other sense fields as well. Investigations have revealed little about the nature, causes, and significance of eidetic images.