The woman who can't forget?

[Smiledriver]

Just saw a woman on the Oprah Winfrey show named Jill Price, she claims to be able to remember everything that happened to her since she was 14 years old. So give her a date and she can tell you where she was and what day of the week it was, what she was doing and any newsworthy event that happened that day.

The Dr. on the show seemed pretty uncritical, but a web search reveals that she has been studied and these studies seemed to verify that she was the real deal. Still, I remember hearing about some Isreali guy fooling scientists before so I remain skeptical.

Here's why I think it might be a hoax. She seemed like she was doing an act. Oprah gave her a date and Ms. Price rattles off....

1.) The day of the week
2.) What she was doing (unverifiable)
3.) The newsworthy event (Baby Jessica falls in a well, John Lennon is shot)

The day of the week seems impressive but is there a system of recalling this that I'm missing?

What do you guys think?

 

[Jeff Corey]

Like October 5, 1455? That would be impressive.

Monday.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

The day of the week seems impressive but is there a system of recalling this that I'm missing?

I have one of those "improve your memory" books and it's actually pretty good, and has a skeptical attitude to many of the "amazing" people with incredibly strong memories. He details how you can, using relatively simple calculations you can do in your head, find out things such as which week day a person was born if you get the date and year.

 

[Earthborn]

The weekday thing isn't all that impressive. If I set my mind to it, I could probably memorise several algorithms to do it in my head, such as the Zeller's algorithm. I'm not all that good with mental arithmetic so I just don't bother.

 

[Robert Oz]

The day of the week seems impressive but is there a system of recalling this that I'm missing?

I seem to remember that Corinda's "Thirteen Steps to Mentalism" includes a method of giving the day any particular date falls on within seconds after some practice. Fairly simple mathematics if I remember correctly.

 

[Arus808]

I dont belive anyone can be that well versed in their every day dealings, to know exactly what they were doing (without proof of course). I can't even tell you what I did five minute ago, let alone what I did on this day when I was 14, with any clarity


The only way to prove her claims is to provide proof of what she did. Ie Have a private investigator follow her around for two weeks, video taping, and photographing everything she does.

then 6 months from that time, have her on, and verify exactly what she was doing during those two weeks, she was being watched,

and use pointed questions:

At 6:37 pm on Dec 7, 2008, what were you doing ?


What kind of questions were being asked? WERE they specific? Or general.


edit to add: knowing the "day" of the week that a specific date fell on is not a "talent" . as stated by others, one could memorize an algorhythm to figure that out.

 

[TheAnachronism]

I do remember seeing her on a national news program a while ago. I think it may have been CNN, but at the time, I wasn't really paying much attention.

I do remember that they interviewed and tested her quite a bit (which was shown on TV). In these "tests," they gave her a date, and as you said, she was able to tell you the day, what she did, and any noteworthy news.

BUT, and this was quite impressive, she was able to remember the airing dates of specific episodes of popular TV shows throughout her childhood and adulthood, which the anchors checked with a TV guide type thing. In one case, she got the answer "wrong" but when it was later checked, it showed that the TV Guide was actually wrong. They also quizzed her over days that things happened with an anthology of the New York Times in front of them.

I may try to youtube it and see if I find anything.

ETA: It aired on abc News and you can see part of it here.

 

[Hokulele]

Was she described as a savant?

 

[Dragoonster]

Is she remembering what she knew/did at the time, or is she remembering what she's studied herself to remember over the last year or whatever?

If the latter, she could have possibly memorized a significant event for every day since the age of 14 where she said it started. That might change to 12 or 8 if she studies more. Or...perhaps that was when she started recording every day in a journal that she now studies.

I'm not saying it's untrue or not possible, just posing reasons why it might not be exactly what it seems (effortless memory recall).

 

[TheAnachronism]

This case is worth being skeptical about, to be sure. In terms of your first question, it would be interesting to know how much detail she could go into for any given date. If you've watched the video in my link, it mentions her (exceptionally lengthy) journal, and shows a brief shot of it. They could easily use this to gauge whether or not she is merely memorizing a large event for each day, or whether she can automatically recall most events recorded in the journal for any given day.

By the way, I believe she recently came out with a book. Has anyone happened to see a copy? As soon as I catch it at my library, I just might pick it up. A biased source of information, no doubt, but it would be interesting to hear from her point of view.

Is she remembering what she knew/did at the time, or is she remembering what she's studied herself to remember over the last year or whatever?

If the latter, she could have possibly memorized a significant event for every day since the age of 14 where she said it started. That might change to 12 or 8 if she studies more. Or...perhaps that was when she started recording every day in a journal that she now studies.

I'm not saying it's untrue or not possible, just posing reasons why it might not be exactly what it seems (effortless memory recall).

 

[Richard Masters]

Just saw a woman on the Oprah Winfrey show named Jill Price, she claims to be able to remember everything that happened to her since she was 14 years old. So give her a date and she can tell you where she was and what day of the week it was, what she was doing and any newsworthy event that happened that day.

The Dr. on the show seemed pretty uncritical, but a web search reveals that she has been studied and these studies seemed to verify that she was the real deal. Still, I remember hearing about some Isreali guy fooling scientists before so I remain skeptical.

Here's why I think it might be a hoax. She seemed like she was doing an act. Oprah gave her a date and Ms. Price rattles off....

1.) The day of the week
2.) What she was doing (unverifiable)
3.) The newsworthy event (Baby Jessica falls in a well, John Lennon is shot)

The day of the week seems impressive but is there a system of recalling this that I'm missing?

What do you guys think?

I don't know about this particular instance, but there are confirmed instances of savants who can perform similar feats.

ETA, should have read the whole thread. Hokulele commented on savants already.

 

[CFLarsen]

If she can remember "everything", why does she focus on the newsworthy events of the day - as in headline news? It would be much more impressive if she could rattle off all of the New York Times' articles on one particular day, especially the minor stories.

It is possible to calculate the day of the week. One of my former colleagues could do it in his head.

 

[Kuko 4000]

There are many memory techniques that make seemingly impossible things possible. I've read one book by Dominic O'Brien and learned a few basic and useful techniques in a matter of minutes. The more complicated techniques allow for amazing results. This:

So give her a date and she can tell you where she was and what day of the week it was, what she was doing and any newsworthy event that happened that day.

...is mundane compared to Dominic and other memory masters.

Now this on the other hand:

named Jill Price, she claims to be able to remember everything that happened to her since she was 14 years old.

...is something to approach with skepticism. And of course, everything depends on the level of detail she can achieve.

 

[monoman]

Was she described as a savant?

Well, I have a staff of 3 savants and the useless rabble can't even remember my bath day so I'd hope she wasn't described as that.

 

[shadron]

There is a formula called Zeller's Congruence^WP that gives the day of the week given the full date. It has to be adjusted for Julian calendars, which depend on where you are, exactly, because it was adopted at different times in different places. George Washington's birthday was on Feb 12 or Feb 22, depending on whether he is considered British or American. It wouldn't be too hard, with practice, to determine a particular day's day of the week.

Also see Doomsday Rule^WP.

 

[Cuddles]

If she can remember "everything", why does she focus on the newsworthy events of the day - as in headline news? It would be much more impressive if she could rattle off all of the New York Times' articles on one particular day, especially the minor stories.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. In addition, I don't see how this would prove her claim anyway. Has she actually read the newspaper every day since she was 14? I doubt it, and if not then reciting headline news would just show that she has since memorised headline news, not that she remembers it from that day. Same for knowing what day a particular date was. I quite often go a few days without knowing what date it is, and on holidays even without knowing what day it is. Sure, I could work it out later, but that wouldn't be remembering what happened, it would be working it out afterwards.

From what I can see, it seems she does have an unusually good memory. However, it seems far more likely that what she remembers is things that have been written down and studied, not simply everything that has happened in her life. The very existence of her journal suggests that. Why would she have one if she can remember it all anyway?

 

[shuttlt]

From memory (ha ha... ha) her claim is that she can remember everything as if watching the events again in a tiny little cinema inside her head. My very ordinary memory could be wrong though.

 

[Dancing David]

Just saw a woman on the Oprah Winfrey show named Jill Price, she claims to be able to remember everything that happened to her since she was 14 years old. So give her a date and she can tell you where she was and what day of the week it was, what she was doing and any newsworthy event that happened that day.

The Dr. on the show seemed pretty uncritical, but a web search reveals that she has been studied and these studies seemed to verify that she was the real deal. Still, I remember hearing about some Isreali guy fooling scientists before so I remain skeptical.

Here's why I think it might be a hoax. She seemed like she was doing an act. Oprah gave her a date and Ms. Price rattles off....

1.) The day of the week
2.) What she was doing (unverifiable)
3.) The newsworthy event (Baby Jessica falls in a well, John Lennon is shot)

The day of the week seems impressive but is there a system of recalling this that I'm missing?

What do you guys think?

Ediect memory is not that remarakable, why are you sceptical, if she can be tested to a degree, then that is all that there is.

The question is why would this be a suprize? There is an ability in 'normal' humans to memorize and recite huge amounts of verbal material, almost all humans can do this. They don't but it is not that hard to do. Most people have the capacity to do it.

ETA: the question is what good does it do her, I doubt there is much survival skill in it. My brother has an amazing memory as well, but not for specific days.

 

[shuttlt]

Even assuming that that is how her 'ability' works, it could be that her memory isn't quite as good as it appears and her brain is filling in a whole load of blanks and making things up just like every other brain...

 

[Cuddles]

why are you sceptical

I'm skeptical because the claims of what she can do and the actual demonstrations and background information do not seem to add up. As already noted several times, working out what day a particular date was does not require much of a memory at all. Memorising lots of headlines may require a decent memory, but in no way suggests remembering everything that has ever happened to you. And why would someone keep a journal if they could remember it all anyway? It seems far more likely that she kept a very detailed journal and has a memory good enough to memorise it, along with headlines that may not have been included and working out days. I won't say that she is a liar or fraud, it's entirely possible that she really believes she can remember everything, but that it is simply a result of her brain filling in the details of the memorised things, as it does with everyone else.

Ediect memory is not that remarakable

Peronally, I would consider eidetic memory fairly remarkable. More to the point, as far as I am aware no adult has ever been confirmed as having a truly eidetic long-term memory. It can be relatively common in children, but is short-term and doesn't extend to detailed things like text. I can't find a single verified case of someone actually remembering their life in the way this woman claims to.