There is no significant difference when people are instructed to recall their earliest memories with cued recall compared to free recall. Free recall, in regard to childhood amnesia, is the process by which experimenters ask individuals for their earliest memories, and allow the participant to respond freely. Free įree recall refers to the specific paradigm in the psychological study of memory where participants study a list of items on a specific trial and are then prompted to recall the items in any order. For children and adults, the earliest memory retrieval was around three years old. The researchers found that the younger children need more prompts or cues. One study performed by Bauer and Larkina (2013) used cued recall by asking children and adults to state a personal memory related to the word and then state the earliest time that it occurred. Even with this measure, cued recall is only useful for bringing to mind memories formed several months after the introduction of that word into the participant's vocabulary. If the experimenter asks the participant to specifically use childhood memories or the earliest memories associated with a cue, the age estimate can be two to eight years. It may be a problem if participants are not asked to record the earliest memory they can recall which relates to the cue. One memory is recorded per cue word, so it can be difficult to know whether this memory is their earliest memory or the first memory that popped to mind. There are several objections to the cue method. This method has generally estimated the age of offset at about three to five but can vary. In its basic form, the experimenter gives the participant a word, and the participant responds with the first memory they think of associated with that word.

Many studies use cued recall to retrieve memories. Specifically, whether an individual is prompted to remember a specific event, given more general guidelines, or asked to recall any memory possible, the cue method generates different results. The method of memory retrieval can influence what can be recalled. In 1972, Campbell and Spear published a seminal review about childhood amnesia in Psychological Sciences recapping the research conducted to understand this topic from neurological and behavioral perspectives in both human and animal models. Freud coined the term 'infantile' or 'childhood amnesia' and discussed this phenomenon in his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Freud asked his patients to recall their earliest memories and found that they had difficulty remembering events from before the age of six to eight. He asserted that childhood or infantile amnesia was a precursor to the 'hysterical amnesia', or repression, presented by his adult patients. Using psychoanalytic theory, he postulated that early life events were repressed due to their inappropriately sexual nature. In 1910, Sigmund Freud offered one of the most famous and controversial descriptions and explanations of childhood amnesia. Stanley Hall noted the phenomenon in his book, Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education. Five years later, Henri and Henri published a survey showing that most respondents' earliest recollections occurred from the age of two to four. History Ĭhildhood amnesia was first formally reported by psychologist Caroline Miles in her article 'A study of individual psychology', in 1895 by the American Journal of Psychology. Ĭhanges in encoding, storage and retrieval of memories during early childhood are all important when considering childhood amnesia. This is usually the second birthday, but it can range from two to four years in general. Some define it as the age from which a first memory can be retrieved.

Psychologists differ in defining the onset of childhood amnesia. Some research has demonstrated that children can remember events from before the age of two, but that these memories may decline as children get older. The development of a cognitive self is also thought by some to have an effect on encoding and storing early memories. Around 5-6 years of age in particular is thought to be when autobiographical memory seems to stabilize and be on par with adults. On average, this fragmented period wanes off at around 4.7 years. It may also refer to the scarcity or fragmentation of memories recollected from early childhood, particularly occurring between the ages of 2 and 6. Inability of adults to recall memories from childhoodĬhildhood amnesia, also called infantile amnesia, is the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories (memories of situations or events) before the age of two to four years.

Infantile amnesia not happening