Imagine if all memories had to pass a selection process that considered whether they were relevant, useful, or important. Most of our early reminiscences would be consigned to oblivion. This is because early memories tend to be an eclectic mix – major and minor events, scraps of conversation, items of clothing, amalgams of school days, and family gatherings, all spiked with a full range of emotions.
While we struggle to remember everyday essentials – the items on the shopping list that we left on the kitchen table, for example, or the name of the person we need to introduce to a work colleague – whole incidents or vivid scraps from our distant past seem to be there for the asking, packaged for easy access. We can hook out without effort the memory of a trip to the seaside – the tin bucket decorated with a starfish, the cake wrapped in greaseproof paper, the wave that soaked grandad’s sandals, someone saying that sea anemones looked like strawberries from a pot of jam.
These recollections that pop up, often unbidden, some 20, 40, or even 80 years after the event, are usually among the most cherished of all our memories. Like a piece of antique lace or a faded sepia-tinted photograph, they are made remarkable simply because they have survived.
How Far Back Can You Remember?
If you compare, say, your memories of your first year at school with those of the last, the latter are likely to be far richer and more detailed. This isn’t just because your last year at school is closer to you in time – although that may play a part if you are still relatively young. This is because far fewer memories seem to be formed in the period from birth to five years. Psychologists have a number of theories about why this might be so, and researchers have tried to pinpoint the age at which earliest autobiographical memories are laid down.
One way to investigate this is by asking people if they remember a significant event from childhood. In one study, a group of children and young people were asked what they remembered about a brother or sister being born when they were aged between three and eleven. They were asked questions such as: ‘Who looked after you when your mother was in the hospital?’ and ‘Do you remember getting any presents?’ The accuracy of the memory could be verified by checking with the parents.
The results showed that, no matter what age the young people were at the time of the study – whether they were aged four, eight, twelve, or young adults – what made the difference was how old they had been when their sibling was born. If the birth happened before the child was three, he or she was very unlikely to have a genuine memory of it. Psychologists have concluded that if you were to write your autobiography entirely from personal recall, it would probably start at around the age of three or four, and even then, the memories would be patchy.
Are Your Early Memories Really Your Own?
When people say that they can remember an event from babyhood, do they really remember the experience, or has the memory been created subsequently through photographs or other people’s accounts? You might like to explore this idea yourself. Try to recall your earliest memory in as much detail as you can. Next time you get the chance, look at some early photographs of yourself. You might be surprised to find one that is a very close representation of your supposed memory. It is often hard to unravel whether seeing a photograph or perhaps hearing a story about yourself repeatedly over the years has reinforced a genuine memory or instead helped to lay down one that was not yours in the first place.
