What is infantile amnesia?
Infantile amnesia refers to the general inability of people to remember specific events from the early years of their lives. On the basis of both free recall studies (What is your earliest memory?) and studies for memories of notable and datable early events (the birth of a sibling, hospitalization) psychologists have concluded that there are very few memories from before the age 3 years. The average age of the earliest memory reported is 31/2, with a small but consistent gender difference indicating that females reported earlier memories. If people are asked to recall episodes from the entire life span the number reported before age 8 falls off sharply in comparison to other periods. This indicates that it is not the age of the memories per se that accounts for their relative paucity, rather it is the life period that they occur within (the earliest years) that is sparsely represented in long term autobiographical memory. Is it due to repression of distasteful memories? Sigmund Freud
Infantile/childhood amnesia refers to a person’s inability to recall events from early childhood. Some say this type of amnesia could be linked to language development or the fact that some areas of the brain linked to memory were not fully mature. Infantile amnesia occurs when a person cannot remember their earliest childhood. The phenomenon has been debated in psychology since the late 19th century, when it was studied by Sigmund Freud and others. Today, childhood amnesia is seen as a part of human development. Infantile amnesia is often thought of as a paradox, since it is known that infants’ and young children’s minds handle a lot of new impressions and are considered adept at learning, and yet it is believed that memories are only created after some fundamental developments of the brain are completed.
Infantile amnesia refers to the general inability of people to remember specific events from the early years of their lives. On the basis of both free recall studies (What is your earliest memory?) and studies for memories of notable and datable early events (the birth of a sibling, hospitalization, the Kennedy assasination) psychologists have concluded that there are very few memories from before the age 3 years. The average age of the earliest memory reported is 31/2, with a small but consistent gender difference indicating that females reported earlier memories. If people are asked to recall episodes from the entire life span the number reported before age 8 falls off sharply in comparison to other periods. This indicates that it is not the age of the memories per se that accounts for their relative paucity, rather it is the life period that they occur within (the earliest years) that is sparsely represented in long term autobiographical memory.
