Definition of "pelmanism"

pelmanism

noun
uncountable
1. A system of training to improve the memory.
  Quotations
  Leamas who normally read nothing, read newspapers slowly and with concentration. He remembered details, like the names and addresses of people who were the subject of small news items. He did it almost unconsciously as a kind of private pelmanism, and it absorbed him entirely.
  1963, John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Penguin Canada, published 2009, page 87
2. A memory card game in which a pack of cards is spread out face-down and players try to turn up pairs with the same symbol.